The Snail Mail Is Extinct

Snail Mail
A letter from the Office of Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV whose recipient has already moved out of the mailing address.

Every heard of this ancient creature snail mail? I used to send one to my pen pal in Cebu and was exhilarated finding a reply waiting for me.

But that was ages ago.

Living in an apartment complex has got its quirk – receiving tons of mails for people who already moved out of the address. And this morning, I dedicated my time to return them (instead of simply putting them in the junk folder or trash bin).

Hello, mailbox, we meet again

Some of the mail with stamps, I was able to slide into the dropbox of a private mailing company. But for some of the letters, like the pictured “official mail” from a good senator, remained on my hands because the personnel said it won’t be sent without stamps. I tried to buy some to get rid of the irrelevant mails that very minute but they’re not available.

The thing called Philippine Postal Corporation

Searching for a location where I can buy stamps (to return the mails) in Metro Manila on PHLPost’s wesbsite didn’t help either. As far as this website is concerned, other provinces have their post office locations listed down but not for Metro Manila. Are they all gone?

PHLPost
PHLPost missing Metro Manila in its list of post office locations.

It’s not really extinct yet. Snail mail is a dying breed. Bills are coming into email inboxes and other letters or packages can be delivered within the day by reliable couriers. The people who are mistaken in sending packages thru the Philippine Postal system either gets arbitrarily taxed or gets their goods lost (either by theft of mishandling).

I don’t know how PHLPost will transform its service into a sustainable and relevant one. Maybe its “Shop Online” section will save the day (currently a dead link). But what’s in store? Shop online for envelopes and stamps?


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *