Postal (Societal?) Breakdown

Around 10am Tuesday, I had a couple of mailing errands to run: First to my nearest US Post Office branch to mail a book I'd sold on eBay, and then to the UPS store to return something I'd bought on Amazon.

When I arrived at the US Post Office, there was a hand-written sign on the door: "Closed Due to Technical Difficulties." HUH?

There was a corrugated metal gate pulled down over the counter, but still a self-service kiosk in the lobby, so I, and another very confused patron, went over to the kiosk...it, too, was "out of service." (The kiosk being out of service was no surprise---it's always out of service, every single time I've tried to use it during the past 6 months.)

I have never in my life been to a US Post Office branch during business hours that was suddenly "closed due to technical difficulties." Utterly ridiculous.

OK... I then drove on to my second errand, at the UPS store a mile away, arriving about 10:15am on a Tuesday... It too was closed (despite its posted hours of 8:30am to 6:30pm)! Another customer was there in the parking lot; he got UPS on the phone and asked why no one was at the store; they then proceeded to ask him for his tracking number, etc., which was hardly the point---the point being: Where the hell are your employees at 10:15am? Two UPS people finally showed up around 10:30 (the first apologetic, the second angry).

What the f***?! Get your very basic societal f***ing sh** together!