Post Office Woes

About six weeks ago I wrote about the Hillsborough Post Office on Amwell Road. I am still amazed that the 08844 US Post Office is open for business just 40 hours each week - especially since the Belle Mead office is open 62 1/2 hours!

Maybe the Hillsborough Post Office doesn't need to be open many hours because the employees are so efficient and work so quickly. Or maybe not.

I paid a visit to the post office one afternoon last week. There were about 10 people on line ahead of me. This won't take long, I thought, especially since two windows were open. Boy, was I wrong. I stood in line for almost 30 minutes before I gave up and walked out. In that time, just three customers were served.

I know this is a busy time of year, with people mailing packages, etc. I understand that each customer may need a little extra time to figure out that the envelopes for their holiday cards need $0.90 stamps. All of this would be fine if the employees didn't move so slowly. They seemed to be moving underwater, with no concern that the line behind me was now snaking around the inside of the building, not to mention the unmoving line in front of me!

Employees were constantly being interrupted by other employees to explain something or help with something, or to call a supervisor, or whatever - right in the middle of waiting on a customer!

Is there no one there that says "Wow, look at this line! Let's work quickly and get these people out of here"? On the contrary, these employees seem to know that the Hillsborough Post Office has one of the shortest work weeks in Somerset County - and they can't wait for that whistle to blow!