My Shortest Trip to the Post Office, Ever

Today I went to pick up some stamps (I know, I know... Snail mail is so 20th century). Thanks to the new Automated Postal Center (which also allows you to mail packages), I was in and out in two minutes. It would have been a minute and a half, but I stopped to take pictures.

I looked over to my left, and I saw a bunch of people waiting in line to be dealt with in the old way.

I really have no idea why they were all in line. Maybe they all had P.O. boxes (which seems unlikely). But looking at the difference (the Automated Postal Center had no line at all) reminds me of how some companies and individuals embrace the new media while others run from it. Some just don't understand how it can improve their lives and make their communication efforts more efficient. They'd much rather wait in line -- simply because that's what they've always done. - Cam Beck

Comments

[Michael Wagner]

Cam - I've seen the same thing at the libraries I use.

The automated check-out systems are not being used while people wait in line to check out their books.

Maybe they had fines to pay?!

Keep creating,
Mike

[Lewis Green]

Cam,

I wonder if your experience watching the slow-moving line represents a trust issue. Do we trust people more than machines?

[Cam Beck]

Lewis,
Without having interviewed anyone, I'd have to say anything is possible, but given the temperament of most Post Office workers, I think it's unlikely they just wanted to be exposed to the employees' sunny dispositions.

Based on my experience alone, though, I suspect most of those in the line, if they needed to use a service that could have been fulfilled by the machine, they just didn't know how to use it.

Right before Christmas, I had to visit a different post office, and a postal employee called for anyone needing to do certain kinds of things to use the "APC." She even showed a few people how to use it. I was able to figure out what to do based on what she told the people in front of me.

You know what the Post Office really needs? A greeter. At least until the use of the APC becomes mainstream, they might also consider having someone available to stay by the center and show people how to use it (once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard).

[David Reich]

"...simply because that's what they've always done."

Some people, as we know, are early adopters, while others resist change and have to be almost forced into a new, albeit, faster or easier way of doing things.

I resisted using ATMs for a long time. I liked the interaction with a human, and I was afraid my money might get eaten by the machine. Now, most of my banking transactions are with ATMs. (I still resist conducting transactions online, other than simply checking my balance. But hey, that's me.)

Several years ago when EasyPass was introduced in the New York area, I again resisted going with the new technology. But long lines at the traditional toll booths finally forced most drivers to go with Easy Pass. Now as I breeze through a toll, I shake my head in wonder at the poor suckers crawling along at the old-fashioned toll booths. Why do they put up with the long lines? "Because that's what they've always done."

Go figure.