What I thought would be a simple task turned into a minor inconvienience today.

I went to the U.S. Postal Service here in Lima, Ohio, to purchase international reply coupons. I was afraid they wouldn't have them, this not being what you would call a large town. However, I though there was a good chance they would have them because the nearest large city is more than an hour away so the post office serves a fairly large population.

I arrived at the post office around 3 p.m. thinking it would be an in-and-out operation. It was not to be.

First, there was quite a line and only two windows open. I can't help but think if the post office were a private company instead of a government entity, more windows would have been opened in the name of customer service.

When I finally made it to the window, they gentleman was surprised that someone would want such a thing and made it clear he has not sold any of those in years and that they are anachronistic. I don't think they are, but that is neither here nor there. He then began searching through cabinent drawers insisting that some were in there, but he couldn't find any. Finally, he was able to ask someone about them and they had to go to some hidden safe and retrieve them.

Then he wasn't sure what needed to be done to sell them so he had to seek the counsel of others once again.

But, in the end, after about 40 minutes, I finally got my coupons.

Now I have to go back tomorrow and mail some letters to Italy seeking documents. I hope that goes more smoothly.