Going Postal

Today I had to go to the post office to pick up the mail and mail a couple of things. When I opened my box I discovered my Gevalia coffee order had arrived and I would need to go inside to pick it up. That was fine since I needed to mail a couple of packages anyway. When I went inside there was a line in front of me of about 8 people. There were only two clerks working at the counter. One person being helped was sending an international package and it was taking forever. The other person had several flat rate priority boxes and forms she was filling out for each. Finally another clerk arrived and waited on the next person. By this time the line had grown even longer and I had been standing there for about 15 minutes. I noticed the lady who was being waited on by the new clerk was having a problem. She had used her debit card to pay and for some reason the computer system was malfunctioning. Another 10 minutes or so went by and this lady had become irate by that time. My turn had finally come and I was at the counter next to her and the clerk had weighed my packages and put the post on each and had placed them in the proper bins for outgoing. He had also picked up my box of coffee and rang everything up. By this time the third clerk was having trouble with a transaction and I tried paying my things with my debit card. We waited and waited and nothing was happening. The irate lady become more irate and by that time the post mistress had arrived and made an announcement to the now 40 or more people standing in line that there was a problem with their computer system. She apologized and said they would try to get it fixed and working as soon as possible. Much to my surprise not a single person got out of line. I continued to wait and irate lady got more and more vocal. She finally asked if she could go to her car and get a check from her husband to pay. The clerks said yes so she did but not without making a huge scene in front of everyone in there. The line continued to grow and was now out into the lobby. Even the automated machine in the lobby was down. The clerk waiting on me didn't know what to do... he had already applied the stamps to my packages and rung everything up. I had no cash and I have not had a check book in years. I always use my debit card for everything. He finally asked if I could run to the bank and get the cash. I said yes so left to drive just a block down the street only to find the ATM machine was also out of order and a technician was there working on it. LOL. I ended up going to the drive up and getting the cash then back to the post office. The clerk had told me not to get back in line when I came back but rather just walk up to him. When I arrived back the lines of people were gone so I assumed the computer glitch had been worked out but the clerk said no, it had not and were still not working at all. I guess everyone else just finally gave up after waiting around so long. I was in a catch 22 situation since my debit card had already been entered into the computer and they were not at a point where it could be cancelled. I couldn't just leave my packages there with the postage already on them without paying. It was a mess but finally got it all worked out. The clerk told me that there was some huge problem with the phone lines between here and Tampa, Florida where there system was located and that had caused the computers to shut down. It finally released and cancelled my debit card but would not work after that. What an eventful trip to the post office. Everyone was civil and understanding except for the one lady that I was afraid was going postal on us all.