Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Passport Panic: An Open Letter

Dear UPS,

You know, when a person pays $40 to mail something overnight, it's probably best to mail it, don't you think? I mean, not to be picky or anything, but "we'll deliver it the next day" doesn't--or shouldn't--generally mean "we'll claim that we delivered it, and then, when called out on the lie, show up with the package a week late." People get stressed out, you know, when they mail their passports halfway across the world and then are told, oops, sorry, it's gone, we put it on your doorstep, it's not our fault, don't blame us! They get even more stressed out when that means they're stuck in the Middle East without a passport or visa. Yeah. Yeah, that makes them happy.

Okay, I'll cut out the sarcasm: I'm angry, UPS, angry that you refuse to deliver me books from Amazon without getting my signature but will supposedly leave my passport--MY PASSPORT, my beautiful, internationally-stamped, supplementary-paged passport, with my Jordanian residency stamp and my brand-new $150 Syrian visa--on the steps of a house with no delivery confirmation. Angry that you caused me that much panic, and even angrier that you caused my mom that much panic. And don't think that the fact that your 'tracking' function worked, and that you brought it by later, 6 days after the claimed arrival date, lets you off the hook. I've got my eye on you, UPS. And I'll be using FedEx from now on.

Love Hate,

Petra the almost-passportless

3 comments:

Katie said...

Oh dear. I can only imagine how much panic this caused you, considering how much panic I've caused you by my lack of a passport . . .

Hmm. Maybe I should go somewhere that actually requires the use of said passport.

But anyway, back to the point. That bites. I'd offer to keep my one good eye on UPS for you too, but--I have other things to keep track of ;)

my name is amy said...

yeah, that's right. you tell 'em!!

Xan said...

AH! I'm sorry...I should have warned you about UPS. Do you want me to call my contacts there and yell for you? Saul was always really good to me...and he always shared my contempt...well, as much as an employee can.