Because of syndication deadlines, comic strips are produced several weeks in advance, so today’s “Pluggers” was drawn last month. I learned last week that our Post Office branch WILL remain open. I’ve drawn a follow-up panel announcing this news, which will appear early next month.
-Gary Brookins
Speed is relative. A one month delay is like one hour in the life of a plugger. Glad to hear the Post Office branch will remain open. Drop boxes are disappearing around town. And my rural route postal delivery person (the lady who delivers my mail), said the USPS had once considered outsourcing mail pickup to local convenience stores, etc.
Time marches on.
The reason the USPS has a monopoly is so citizen in Buttf%ck Kansas can get the same quality of delivery as urban areas. Fed Ex and UPS won’t even deliver to parts of Alaska.. For 43cents your letter goes across the nation in a day or two, and if you were stupid enough to miss-address it, it comes back to you for free.Does UPS or Fed-EX guarantee to come to your door every day for some undercharged 3rd class ad? B Franklin foresaw a need to tie this nation together through a safe, efficient mail system. Do you want to wait for 7-11 to deliver the results of your lab tests?
your mail won’t get thrown away, plugger person…it will be rerouted to another postoffice…that will probably be inconvenient to you but in the grand scheme , a cost saver for a cash strapped but very necessary federal agency
When I grew up, with a whole bunch of other pluggers - we didn’t have chain grocoey stores. We had a general store - which sold just about anything. Part of the general store was a post office. When you wanted to collect your mail, the general store owner would rush over to the little cage reserved for the mail delivery, take off his apron, put on his USPS cap - and get your mail for you. In those days, you didn’t need a fancy address. You could just write the person’s name and the city and state where they lived on the outside of the envelope and the letter would be delivered. Don’t know what they did in big cities like New York. My cousins lived on a farm in the country outside Scott City, Kansas. I would just put the name of one of my cousins on the outside of the envelope, then Scott City and then Kansas - and that was all it took to get the letter to them. It only cost one cent for a letter - which is where the saying: “A penny for your thoughts” probably originated. You didn’t have to rent boxes or anything like that in those days. You just went up to the owner of the gneral store and said you wanted your mail and he would rush over to his cage and get it for you. I have relatives in New Mexico who have ALWAYS picked their mail up at the local gas station-convenience store for a long time. So, for us old-time pluggers - if the USPS begins “outsourcing” the “post office” to local convenience stores - as far as we would be concerned - it would just be a matter of the USPS finally coming full circle. As far as I am concerned, the most natural thing in the world is to buy my stamps at the grocery store. That is where we used to ALWAYS pick up our stamps back in the 40s!
Of course, that was back in the days BEFORE the grocery store sold stuff like chicken already cut up for you. I can remember when the local grocery store offered the first batch of already cut up chicken for people. Everyone who came into the store just laughed their heads off - they were positive that was an idea which would wither on the vine soon enough. Back then most people - even people who lived in town - had their own hen house out back of their house. Whenever you wanted to have chicken, you went out to the chicken coop, grabbed a chicken, lopped off its head, plucked the feathers off, cut it up yourself and had fresh chicken for supper. Even people who were not lucky enough to have their own hen house out back of their houses would still buy live chickens at the grocery store. If someone wanted a chicken, the grocer would take them out to his hen house out back of his store, the customers would pick the chicken she wanted, the grocer would catch the chicken for her and put it in a gunny sack and the customer would take the chicken home with her. When she was ready for fresh chicken, she would lop off the chicken’s head, pluck off the feathers and cut the chicken up herself. Most people who resorted to buying a chicken from the grocer usually intended to have chicken for supper that night - so someone who actually bought their chicken from the grocer did not really have a need for their own hen house. But the chickens which the grocer supplied were more expensive than the chickens which most people kept out back of their houses.
rhonda, anyone can do email and internet if they have someone to teach them! I have a friend in her 70s that says she is technologically illiterate-but her grandkids taught her how to use a computer, so she emails, instant messages, and texts-while she is talking to someone on the phone…teaching and practice is all it takes! (And anyone with a land line phone can get dial up if not DSL)
i_am_the_jam about 15 years ago
Why am I not surprised?
EarlWash about 15 years ago
And ‘no Saturday delivery’ is right around the corner.
woodwork about 15 years ago
pluggers of the world….UNITE!!!!
up2trixx about 15 years ago
So would a plugger still use snail-mail to make submissions to an interactive comic in 2009?
plgrguy Premium Member about 15 years ago
Because of syndication deadlines, comic strips are produced several weeks in advance, so today’s “Pluggers” was drawn last month. I learned last week that our Post Office branch WILL remain open. I’ve drawn a follow-up panel announcing this news, which will appear early next month. -Gary Brookins
GLENN B WOODEN about 15 years ago
Speed is relative. A one month delay is like one hour in the life of a plugger. Glad to hear the Post Office branch will remain open. Drop boxes are disappearing around town. And my rural route postal delivery person (the lady who delivers my mail), said the USPS had once considered outsourcing mail pickup to local convenience stores, etc. Time marches on.
lewisbower about 15 years ago
The reason the USPS has a monopoly is so citizen in Buttf%ck Kansas can get the same quality of delivery as urban areas. Fed Ex and UPS won’t even deliver to parts of Alaska.. For 43cents your letter goes across the nation in a day or two, and if you were stupid enough to miss-address it, it comes back to you for free.Does UPS or Fed-EX guarantee to come to your door every day for some undercharged 3rd class ad? B Franklin foresaw a need to tie this nation together through a safe, efficient mail system. Do you want to wait for 7-11 to deliver the results of your lab tests?
Dry and Dusty Premium Member about 15 years ago
Lewreader a first class stamp is 44 cent, not 43, where you been?
fishStix hospitals, or parts thereof, are closing all over the place. Our best doctors are leaving because of it.
Nighthawks Premium Member about 15 years ago
your mail won’t get thrown away, plugger person…it will be rerouted to another postoffice…that will probably be inconvenient to you but in the grand scheme , a cost saver for a cash strapped but very necessary federal agency
DebJ4 about 15 years ago
When I grew up, with a whole bunch of other pluggers - we didn’t have chain grocoey stores. We had a general store - which sold just about anything. Part of the general store was a post office. When you wanted to collect your mail, the general store owner would rush over to the little cage reserved for the mail delivery, take off his apron, put on his USPS cap - and get your mail for you. In those days, you didn’t need a fancy address. You could just write the person’s name and the city and state where they lived on the outside of the envelope and the letter would be delivered. Don’t know what they did in big cities like New York. My cousins lived on a farm in the country outside Scott City, Kansas. I would just put the name of one of my cousins on the outside of the envelope, then Scott City and then Kansas - and that was all it took to get the letter to them. It only cost one cent for a letter - which is where the saying: “A penny for your thoughts” probably originated. You didn’t have to rent boxes or anything like that in those days. You just went up to the owner of the gneral store and said you wanted your mail and he would rush over to his cage and get it for you. I have relatives in New Mexico who have ALWAYS picked their mail up at the local gas station-convenience store for a long time. So, for us old-time pluggers - if the USPS begins “outsourcing” the “post office” to local convenience stores - as far as we would be concerned - it would just be a matter of the USPS finally coming full circle. As far as I am concerned, the most natural thing in the world is to buy my stamps at the grocery store. That is where we used to ALWAYS pick up our stamps back in the 40s!
Of course, that was back in the days BEFORE the grocery store sold stuff like chicken already cut up for you. I can remember when the local grocery store offered the first batch of already cut up chicken for people. Everyone who came into the store just laughed their heads off - they were positive that was an idea which would wither on the vine soon enough. Back then most people - even people who lived in town - had their own hen house out back of their house. Whenever you wanted to have chicken, you went out to the chicken coop, grabbed a chicken, lopped off its head, plucked the feathers off, cut it up yourself and had fresh chicken for supper. Even people who were not lucky enough to have their own hen house out back of their houses would still buy live chickens at the grocery store. If someone wanted a chicken, the grocer would take them out to his hen house out back of his store, the customers would pick the chicken she wanted, the grocer would catch the chicken for her and put it in a gunny sack and the customer would take the chicken home with her. When she was ready for fresh chicken, she would lop off the chicken’s head, pluck off the feathers and cut the chicken up herself. Most people who resorted to buying a chicken from the grocer usually intended to have chicken for supper that night - so someone who actually bought their chicken from the grocer did not really have a need for their own hen house. But the chickens which the grocer supplied were more expensive than the chickens which most people kept out back of their houses.
rhonda Premium Member about 15 years ago
I just have to ask myself … do Pluggers even have email skill/access?
starlena Premium Member about 15 years ago
rhonda, anyone can do email and internet if they have someone to teach them! I have a friend in her 70s that says she is technologically illiterate-but her grandkids taught her how to use a computer, so she emails, instant messages, and texts-while she is talking to someone on the phone…teaching and practice is all it takes! (And anyone with a land line phone can get dial up if not DSL)
BTW, we met through mutual online friends….
Daviddeer about 15 years ago
Yeah. But Roto…, I would like to see Netflix send me my DVD’s via email.
taber about 15 years ago
Roto13 it is if you are a Plugger
mrprongs about 15 years ago
Pluggers remember when Post Offices were opening up, not closing down.
Daviddeer, Netflix does let you stream ovies, so if they e-mailed you a link, that’d be the same as e-mailing you a DVD.
Bany39 about 15 years ago
When our computer was down for a week, no email, but the USPS still came ever day the only virius that may stop the post office is a flu virius
Ashrey about 15 years ago
I will use all caps for this because I’m angry. WHY NO BAILOUT FOR THE POST OFFICE? IT’S THE POST OFFICE!!!
anserman38 about 15 years ago
No, justforkixx, read the comic again, it’s an email address!!!