Ship it where the sun don't shine

I am so mad at USPS.  This time however, I actually wrote a letter:

To whom it may concern,

I would like to complement the USPS on its extraordinary level of incompetence. To maintain this level level of internal inconsistency would tax even the most seasoned bureaucrats. They say that the mark of genius is to hold two mutually contradictory ideas at the same time. At this the USPS has excelled.

I am speaking of the USPSs' practice of practically giving away packages that require signatures when they are delivered, yet requiring that only the recipient can pick up and sign for this package if delivery is missed and it is returned to the pickup center.

I have walked in to an office building off the street and been asked to sign packages by a waiting USPS service person; I have signed for packages for neighbors; I have lost packages because USPS said it was signed for but nobody knows by whom. All without requiring any identification. However, when I missed delivery for my girlfriend's package last week, I found out that it is impossible for me to pickup this package for her while she is out of town. This is despite the fact that my ID was checked, which shows that I have the exact address of the package.

If she gets back before the USPS returns this package back to its sender, she will then have to take off work in order to meet the USPS highly flexible pickup hours of 8am to 5pm, a time that neatly coincides with the exact times of possible delivery. Note that anyone who is has missed delivery is guaranteed to be highly inconvenienced by these pickup times since they are probably still occupied by the same things that caused them to miss the delivery in the first place. Here again is that mark of genius.

USPSs' service is an endless source of frustration and confusion. If there were any alternatives available for delivering my package they certainly were not relayed by my curt and unhelpful attendant at the 226 Harrison St. Postal Center in San Francisco, CA.