At the post office today, while checking out, I noticed I had been charged an additional two cents on a letter already stamped with one of the last of the batch Ben and I bought a few weeks ago.
“oh, when did the price of stamps rise again?”
“May 12”
“…umm, you mean of last year?”
“No, this May”
“But it’s March”
“That’s right”
“I sent a bunch of letters out a few weeks ago using these same stamps, and it sounds like they made it.”
“This letter will get there in 2-3 days”
“Fine, but when in the last few weeks did the price of stamps rise to two cents more?”
“May”
“But this is only March”
“Yes”
“So how come you’re charging me two cents more?”
“Because the price of stamps rose”
At that point I realized that this conversation was not worth the two cents that inspired it. I took my receipt and walked away feeling thoroughly beaten. Beaten as only the US Postal Service can do.