Why I Can't Ship UPS

It all started a few months ago when we had to submit our second deposit to Albany Law School. We usually like to send items via FedEx or UPS so we have a tracking number and know exactly when they arrive. There’s a UPS Store not far from my work so I took the envelopes in over my lunch hour and handed them to the man behind the counter: Al.

Al begins by saying “Well, if you have to go to law school, I sure hate to see you leave you the state,” as he copies the address from the envelop to the shipping label. I muttered something about upstate New York while trying to figure out why the UPS guy cared where I went to Law School or what state I resided in. I paid the amount due, collected my receipt and tracking number, and was quickly on my way.

A few weeks ago, we needed to send in our financial aid award letter. I figured there were two guys behind the counter before, so I had 50/50 chance of getting someone other than Al. Unfortunately, luck was not with me that day.

"So did you get in?" Al asked after glancing at the address on the envelop.

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"Hey, that's great. Congratulations!" He says holding up his left hand. I touched the outstretched hand as quickly as possible while thinking, “Who the hell is this guy?”

"Well, I sure hate to lose you, but if you have to go I guess you have to go."

"Yup."

"Just be sure you come back after you get that degree."

"Ah, well, we'll see." By this time any normal person would've been able to tell how uncomfortable this whole ordeal was making me, but not Al.

"Well, come back and say goodbye before you leave."

"I'll be damned if I ever set foot in this freaking store again" I thought as I practically ran out the door. I hope FedEx appreciates the extra business.

Al repeated how much he hated to see me going out of state, urged me to come back after I had my degree, and asked me to come back and say good-bye before I left. I think I just about ran out the door to my car.

This failed attempt to bring a “personal touch” to customer service was, in reality, level jumping on the customer/merchant relationship. I’ve worked at my current job for eight years and I’ve shipped items via that UPS store twice. So what, exactly, is Al going to miss? Is it the 80 cents a year I brought to the store? Is it the witty repartee we always enjoyed? The whole thing was just creepy and I vowed never to return to that UPS Store. I hope FedEx appreciates the extra business.

The Big Move

More interesting than my wife? I doubt that's true. Of course, what else is a wife to say? No one woman wants to admit they’ve married the human incarnation of Droopy.

At any rate, the big move is coming right along. We visited Albany earlier this month and love upstate New York. Coming from a place where you can see Wednesday’s storm coming on Monday, I think the topography had both of us in awe. The trees and rivers were both gorgeous, especially considering all the rain in the area of late.

Impressions of Albany? We both liked it. Italian bakeries, delis, and pizzeria’s abound (my Calzone from Little Anthony’s was one of the culinary highlights from our trip). We didn’t spend a lot of time in Washington Park, but liked what we saw. Lark St. definitely looks like fun and I’m sure the atmosphere only improves when school’s in session. Too bad we won’t have the time or the money to properly enjoy it.

We did drop by the Law School for a tour and liked what we saw. The classrooms are nice and the ones we saw were fairly modern. Unfortunately, classes weren’t in session, so we couldn’t sit in on a class. We weren’t able to see the campus before committing to Albany Law, so we were both relieved that we liked the environment.

Anyway, I’m working on a summary of our New York trip and I’ll hopefully post some of our pictures to Flickr soon.

The aptly named: First Post

Wow, I've officially entered the blogosphere. I'm a little behind the times and I don't have much to say, but I can pretend. My posts may even improve.
Well, one can hope. And if that fails at least my husband will be contributing. He is much more intersting than I.
Now to the reason for this blog. My huband and I are embarking on a legal journey. We have decided that since our first year of marriage hasn't been that stressful we should throw a cross-country move and our first year of law school into the mix. You know, just to keep it interesting.
We've created this blog (and the pun was intended) to keep our friends and family up to date on how we're doing and to keep ourselves entertained.
So, hopefully you will find something useful or entertaining here, but I'm not holding my breath.