Chapter 21: The Postal Service
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." No snow, little rain, lots of heat...
21.09.2022 - 21.09.2022 103 °F
Chapter 21: The Postal Service
September 21, 2022
When we were here in February, I promised to send one of our contacts a copy of my book. I got his business card so that I would have the proper address. My book, securely packed inside a recycled Amazon Prime box, would survive the rigors of such a journey. I copied the information from our friend's business card verbatim onto an address label. I took the box to the full service United States Postal Service post office nearest our home in Kansas City. The clerk discovered that postage would be a bit over $42.00. I happily paid and proceeded to wait for the ‘thank-you’ note I was sure to receive once the book was delivered. Time passed but no note came.
Almost two months later, the parcel was returned as “undeliverable." I brought that box with me on this trip and hand delivered it with a flourish to my friend. We all laughed. But we were intrigued by this epic fail in a place where failure is not a concept they accept.
At the office where we are working while here, B4 and I inquired of a contact there about this. We were told, “Oh, I don’t get any paper mail. If I receive a letter, I must go to the post office to pick it up and pay a fee to retrieve it. We all use electronic communication for everything—not the postal service.”
It appears there is little to no door-to-door mail delivery here. There are no “Zip Codes.” Across the Emirates, in many cases even the streets did not have names. Now, they are instituting a GPS addressing system using 10-digit smart codes. We did learn that with a passport containing a residency stamp, you can complete a form at the post office and rent a post office box. Or, if you are an expat, you would more likely use your work address, having your mail sent to your employer’s post office box.
This is about a thing we Americans take for granted: The USPS. When Americans go to their U.S. Postal Service residential mailbox to pick up their bills and other “snail mail,” they have Benjamin Franklin to thank. As the first postmaster general (back in 1775) he was instrumental in the passage of the 1792 Postal Service Act. Isn't it also interesting that in Article 1, Section 8, of our Constitution, we have specifically instructed Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads."
A couple of days ago, our favorite blogger, Heather Cox Richardson, wrote these words deep into her thoughts on the day: "The Constitution established a representative democracy, a republic, in which three branches of government would balance each other to prevent the rise of a tyrant. Congress would write all “necessary and proper” laws, levy taxes, borrow money, pay the nation’s debts, [b]establish a postal service[/b], establish courts, declare war, support an army and navy, organize and call forth “the militia to execute the Laws of the Union” and “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”
But, HCR's blog continued with this quote from Mr. Franklin: “I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them,” he said, “For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.”
"Originalists" take every word of the Constitution as gospel but then ignore the explanatory comments of one who helped to draft it when he opines that he might discover a thing "once thought right, but found to be otherwise." The framers, who were incredibly smart and created a framework from which our country has been able to grow, would not have been to this part of the world or even been able to consider a future that would include 50 states, the size of the current population, airplanes, internet, social media, MSNBC, Fox News, nuclear weapons, AK-47s, "globalization", and more. I wonder what they would have to say if they were here today? And yet, we hang on their every word, even those they might find to be, in hindsight, "worthy of reconsideration or adjustment." Not fair. That's what amendments are for. But, I think, woe is the politician who might "...change opinions even on important subjects."
Who followed in Franklin’s footsteps here in Dubai? We can't tell. All of that has very little to do with the postal service here in the UAE. It did, however, give us an opportunity to rant--an opportunity I happily took.
But back to our chapter title. We did see one UAE/Dubai Post Office. We spotted in returning from our trip to the desert. Our guess is that a postal service is, to these futurists, like Blockbuster Video, the Blackberry or film cameras. It is a fad that will pass into the recesses of history and, when it comes right down to it, isn't really needed anyway. I suspect that if I went to a post office here they would suggest using DHL or FedEx or UPS.
As I write this, I can't say that I have seen a post office collection box on the street, inside the entrance to a mall or grocery store or at the airport. Maybe they are there and I have simply failed to see them, taking for granted that, "Sure, there must be one around here somewhere." A web search proves that they have stamps.
Our advice, should you wish to communicate with someone here, is to use electronic communication methods. If you want to send a parcel, however, that is not an option we are able to endorse. We think you should do what we did. Fly here and deliver it in person.
