America: illogical to the core

Can somebody *please* tell me how this makes any sense???

I have had incredible difficulty finding a new apartment to move into when I have to leave my current apartment on May first. The searching has caused a huge disruption to my schoolwork. So, in four days I am moving out of my current apartment and into a spare room in a friend's condo. I will stay there for 30 days, maybe a bit more, while I search for a new apartment to rent. This means that upon leaving this address I will have to change my address with all my credit cards, my university, every one else who might have any reason to send me mail. A forwarding of mail with the postal service usually takes about 2 weeks to really get going. In another 30 days I will need to change my address AGAIN, and have my mail forwarded AGAIN (provided I find a new home by then).

All the address changing seemed to me like a really good way for my mail to start getting lost. So I thought, "Self, get thee a P.O. Box and then give that as your address in the change of address you register with all these people who need to send you mail. That way you can change it once, and then when things are all nice and settled in, you can change it more permanently." Great idea, right? It's organized, it's logical, it's responsible. God, I am *so good*.

Well, as it turns out, the USPS would rather have me complete a bazillion changes of address, and deal with having to send my mail all over the greater Boston metropolitan area, than have me rent a PO Box. Totally makes perfect sense. It's logical *and efficient*!

Today I went to the Cambridge branch of the US Post Office and there the clerk (who refused to look me in the eye, btw) told me I would not be allowed to rent a PO Box, and here is why.

In order to rent a PO Box you must:
Present two forms of valid government issued identification. Ok, I have a passport and my drivers license. But my license is currently expired (oops, have to get that renewed), so it doesn't count. Want to know what else *doesn't* count? My social security card and my birth cirtificate. Both forms of identification that are issued by United States government agencies!! Granted one is a state issued document, but are not the state governments acting proxies of the federal government regarding the issuance of identification documents? I mean, my *drivers license* is a state issued form of identification, so how is it that my license counts but not a certified document proving I was ever born in the first place? And please, please tell me what is my social security card if not a *government issued ID???**

Want to know what, other than my drivers license and my passport, *does* count as a valid government issued form of identification? My student ID!! My effin student ID. A little laminated card with nothing more on it than my picture, the name of my university, and the year I graduate. A piece of ID valid for nothing more than getting into the building, making copies and taking out books at the library, and getting little discounts at a select handful of businesses. A form of identification that is issued by *the university*, which is in no way an agency of the United States Government!

Can somebody please explain the logic here??! I realize I am *only* a masters candidate, but I am fairly sure that this makes no sense whatsoever.

Proof of valid residence (as in, proof of an address where you live). The second thing you must have in order to rent a PO Box is proof of a valid address. This means you must present a lease or deed for either a home or a car that has your current address on it. So, if like myself and probably about 50% of the rest of the renters in this city, you are a tenant at will - meaning you do not *have* a lease or a deed to your apartment, and if like so many of us you do not *own* a car, you do not have any valid documentation of your address. As the clerk explained to me, without this proof of address they cannot, prove that you are receiving mail at this address and that you therefor actually live at this address. He says "we don't want transients renting PO Boxes".

I'm sorry, but if I had a stable address at which I was receiving mail, I would not need to rent a PO Box!!

Somebody, please explain this to me. I am so, so confused.

All around, the logic of the requirements for renting a PO Box are completely backwards. They prevent the people who have need for PO Boxes from renting one, and the only people who are able to rent them are the people *least likely to have the need for one*!!

The USPS is an agency that is severely in debt and constantly trying to find ways to net more revenue and get their heads above water so that they can continue to exist. The renting of PO Boxes is a money-making service that they provide. Yet it seems that they have created policies that aim to discourage anyone from actually taking advantage of the service.

Can you imagine how much more revenue they would net in a city like Boston where people are constantly shuffling addresses, if they made it a little more possible for a person to rent a PO Box? Hell, even if they wanted to charge $200/yr I think it would still be worth it to not have to remember all the people I have to notify of a change of address each time I move.

Hey friends in business school: If any of you are looking for sinking ship to save, I have a recommendation for you...

Welcome to Dudeville: Where the dirty socks run wild and the cleaning supplies are banned

Dear men of Cambridge/Somerville:

After having visited your apartments I would like to offer you some advice as you attempt to attract new roommates to fill that teeny open room you have available.

First, you may want to consider cleaning your apartment prior to a visitor's arrival. While I appreciate, on some level, your honesty and seeing this potential living situation in its natural form, it doesn't quite get us off on the right foot, so to speak. Walking a woman through a trash pit and explaining to her that it would be cleaner if she lived there (right... because I am your live-in cleaning service?), does not build a lot of confidence. Sorry to rain your fantasy, but picking up your dirty under-roos is actually not an appealing prospect.

Second, trying to sell me on your apartment based on the large kitchen would work better if it looked like a space that was actually used for cooking and eating, rather than as a storage space for your science experiments. Between the grime caked kitchen with its pile of moldy dishes and the take-out your had delivered during our visit, I understand you are hoping for a personal chef?

While the city of Cambridge may recognize your address as within its boundaries, they have clearly made a grave error. You clearly live in the heart of downtown Dudeville. I believe I can speak for most of the women in Boston who are apartment hunting: Please note your correct address in your roommate ad. I, for one, am looking to live in Cambridge - not Dudeville. I had nightmares for a week.

Thank you.

ps: You might want to consider having a shaman come smudge your apartment. It smells like evil spirits in there.