The UPS Man

Every day we have the same guy come and pick up packages and deliver other ones to us. He whistles and sings and cheerfully loads our boxes full of books and F&Gs onto his handy cart and tugs them away to be sent to their destinations. Or not, as it turns out. The interesting thing about UPS is I always assumed the reason people sent things UPS was so they could track them all the way to their final destination, and that they could be signed for in order to make sure the receipient receieved them. Unfortunately this isn'tthe way UPS works. It turns out they're human, and they make mistakes, and packages get lost as a result.

I'm well aware there are dishonest people all over the place. I lived with one last year, content to lie about everything from laundry to using a handicap tag. So it probably shouldn't surprise me that somewhere in New Jersey, a UPS worker is tearing into other peoples packages and taking whatever seems nice. I guess it also shouldn't surprise me that there is a section on the UPS website where you are supposed to insure your packages to guarantee that they reach their destination in a timely manner or at all. I've never used this option. 1) because I wasn't fully aware of its purpose and 2) Isn't shipping something UPS kind of like insuring it?

Apparently not. It gets worse. The most expensive package I have ever been responsible for mailing out of htis office was lost, ad after a search (though I have my suspicions about how thorough it was) it has been declared lost in the system and I am supposed to claim it. Ironically, though, in claiming it, I am only going to receive $100 of the value of the items, which were really closer to five figures. So I'm in trouble, right? OR am I even at fault? Who is at fault? That's what happens when dealing with a huge company ilke UPS. You can't find someone to blame. Do I blame Man 1, who comes to our office every day and never forgets to ask us how our day is going? Do I blame N. at UPS, who is maybe 17 years old and obviously can't tell the difference between her ass and her elbow? Do I blame the scanning system in the Meadowlands which obviously sucks. Or do I just keep waiting and hoping it's going to turn up, somehow, someway.


Important lessons abound here. One, to know what you're mailing. I, acting as a robot, simply mailed a box, not knowing what it contained, and certainly unaware of the value. I like to think thathad I known the value I would have taken better care of it or something. Two, youc an't trust anyone. Really. For someoen in that warehouse to go tearing into other people's thingsb ecause they were angry about their own lives is just ridiculous. Three, what the hell is the point of UPS?