Postcards

I send out the monthly announcements for the South Plains Branch of the National Association of Social Workers http://www.naswtx.org/.  We have email addresses for most of our members, and email addresses for many of the area social workers, who are not NASW members, but who are interested in attending our monthly CEU meetings, as well as our annual ethics workshop.

But, because I do not have email addresses for all of the members of the local branch of NASW , I use a standard size USPS postcard  https://www.usps.com/ to communicate with our branch members who are not on line. 

Most recently, I went to one of the area post offices to purchase post cards. One branch did not have post cards available.  The truth be known, this has been  more and more common when I attempt to buy postcards. 

I went to another branch, and they had postcards. But, because they could not scan the purchase price into the computer system, they were not sure they could sell postcards as they might be a discontinued product (never mind that the postcards I have previously purchased say that they are "forever" postcards.) Well, after some checking and rechecking, it became apparent that the postcards I wanted to purchase were a valid product. I had asked for 20 postcards, as I always ask for more than I need. I purchased 19 because that was all that was available.

This was too weird.  I asked about postcard stamps, and learned that they are readily available. I learned that the largest sized piece of mail that could be mailed with a postcard  stamp was 6" by 4 and 1/4" inches.

This makes no sense to me:  why would you sell a "forever" postage postcard, then discontinue it? Why would you sell a postage stamp that covers post card postage, but say that a USPS postcard product with a postcard stamp might be invalid?  Especially if it was marked  with a "forever" stamp.

Well. I work for the government. I understand the vagaries of the government. I understand that very often what makes sense to you or me does not make sense to the bureaucrats.