This may be the only photo I have of the Palisade post office, I'm not sure. It also shows the train station on the right. Both are tiny, but then so is Palisade. I took the photo from the dentist's chair after he moved from the old building on Main Street.This post office became a huge part of my life, because once I started the Tapir Preservation Fund and its online gift shop, I was there many, many days getting postal rates and shipping packages. When I want to see how the gift shop has grown and how our efficiency has changed, I think back to these early days. I started by taking each package to the P.O. to weigh it and get the shipping rates, then return home and contact the customer, charge their credit card, do the final packing, and take the box back to ship it! Now we can do it in a couple of minutes online. We still use Priority mail, but the systems are so much faster and the post office picks up at our store every day!
There were a couple of really nice clerks, and then there was Irene. Not to belabor it, but I disliked her and she disliked me. She had two classes of customers. One set would get into her line on purpose, and the other set would avoid her at any cost. She was just rude unless she liked you, then she was all smiles and schmooze. I kept trying to be nice to her, but when I started the business I had a lot of very pertinent questions such as, "How much does it cost to ship this box to Germany?" She couldn't be bothered. She once gave me the rate to Austria instead of Australia, and when I suggested that the rate sounded low and could she check it, she got mad. "Same difference," she said. (!!!) "No, Irene, it's on the other side of the world. Could you check it again for me? Please? Thank you." I think she finally quit just before I moved away.
Anyway, it makes me appreciate how much we can do online now!
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