Mailing A Letter. The Ordeal
Every now and then I have to use the postal service. It’s always an ordeal. It honestly feels like climbing inside a computer and moving bits around. It’s hot, bothersome and feels entirely unnecessary.
For one thing, I simply have no natural connection to paper. I don’t have a printer, I don’t have envelopes, I don’t even have a pen. For all of these things I have to go out, to buy, beg or borrow. Then I have to walk like 2 miles to a post office (as opposed to an Internet cafe, which I can find within a block), frequently miss opening hours, wait in line, end up spending a grand total of five rupees for a stamp. This system can’t possibly work out for anyone.
Part of the problem is generational. My generation and below almost never uses the post. I haven’t written a letter since the last century and all I get in the mail are bills and bank statements, which I don’t open. I pay the phone when they SMS me and I follow my bank account online. Everything the post could do for me I can handle more efficiently electronically.
Another problem is that the Post kinda sucks. The average Sri Lankan household spends Rs. 4 per month on postal services compared to Rs. 750 for telecom. The postal service is obviously not sustainable or valuable in its current form. I can reload my phone or use the net A) from home B) on the corner or C) within 1 mile of almost any place I might be. To use the post office I have to go to the sub post-office down the street (which is never open) or walk to the main post office which are really far.
For today’s errand I had to buy a pen and an envelope (gumless, why?) and put this invoice inside. That invoice was another thing, someone had to print it at their office and I collected it at their house. Then I go to the post office, wait, spend Rs. 5 for a stamp and then look around for some gum to seal the deal. What they have is a pen stuck in some gum, and you’re supposed to just glop it on. It drips on my feet and the floor and the table is covered in it so now my envelope is going to stick to whatever it lands on and end up in Batticaloa. Damn.
So, all in all, mailing this invoice has required the support of four people in five properties as well as two bus rides, one trishaw, and about half an hour of walking. And the post office has netted a grand total of 5 Rupees. This is obviously retarded. The next time somebody asks me for a paper invoice I’m just going to say no.
In other news, I think the Postmaster General just resigned. Perhaps he tried to mail something.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
I use the postal service every now and then to mail stuff to my brother abroad. SL Post takes only 3-4 days to courier something to where he is. I like it :) I personally like letters and pens and paper . yes it’s messy and yes it takes time to go there and it’s troublesome but still. it’s kinda romantic. don’t u ever get bday cards ? I guess not. U r too hardcore for that :P My father sends me postcards from all the places he travels to. I like that too. He has to carry postcards ( which are already stamped ) in his car all the time otherwise he forgets. But still. it’s nice.
that does seem nice. nobody sends me postcards. or birthday cards
There are still lots of people in rural areas who rely on the postal service
The post office is 5 minutes away from where I work, and the post box is just across the road. I have pens and paper at home and at work, and a stock of Rs.5/- stamps. All my wedding invitations were shoveled into this postbox, and all were delivered within a reasonable period. I had a gmail address for RSVP, and got only one response!
all the wedding invitations I get tend to be delivered by hand
That is another tradition that is slowly dying… I was hoarding up my leave for later, so only the atesting witnesses and the grandparents got hand delivered invites.
On a different note, do you never receive birthday/christmas cards?
your closing line is GOLD.
Ha ha yes, it is.
For a more romantic view of this quaint delivery method, have a read of Pratchett’s Going Postal. Recommended.
How about fax as an alternative Indi? Although finding this being used less and less here in Oz. Christmas cards are a big hassle – even when you send eGreetings you still get a bunch of cards that need responding to – in kind. Here Australia Post is now making significant profits on parcels – delivering all those parcels from the ever increasing level of online purchasing. They’re also having to deliver parcels at nights and weekends when customers available. Also setting up parcel pick-up stations where you can go at any hour and use a pin number to open a locker and get your parcel. So I guess our postal service is adapting and trying to remain relevant. As your rural population rely on the post so do ours, along with older folk who are not online. They can pay most of their utility bills, plus some others, at the post office.
dude, sending a fax is also incomprehensible to me. You take something digital, make it physical, then make it digital again, then it comes out physical.
There are few rituals I detest more than sending a fax
Wait until ecommerce takes off in SL. Who do you think is going to deliver the crap that you buy online?
The guys I know trying ecommerce in SL are either setting up their own delivery services or using private ones. Perhaps they should use the post, but the few people I’ve talked to seem to consider the private sector the first option
With the average spent on postal services by a household being only LKR 4/month, I believe it’s time to be composing the eulogy. See: http://lirneasia.net/2011/10/sri-lanka-what-people-spend-on-telecom-in-relation-to-total-communication-and-recreation-expenditures/
The problem does not seem to be limited to Sri Lanka: http://lirneasia.net/2011/11/is-there-hope-for-government-postal-services/