I know not every post office can do this, but for the ones that can, it really is worth building relationships with the post office staff. I’ve only been doing this a short time (that is, going to the post office to get special stamps or cancellations) but even in small places they seem to appreciate it so much that they’ll take all the time in the world to make sure that I am served properly. The last post office I went to in Kobe gave me the exact number of mini-gotochi cards as the big ones I had bought, something I have not experienced elsewhere here in Japan so far (in fact, in some places they won’t give you any at all, no matter how many cards you buy, or just one).
In August 1994, I moved to a suburb of Tokyo as an Assistant English Teacher with the Ohio-Saitama English Teaching Program (like JET, but limited to people from Ohio). I didn’t speak Japanese, and my first trip shopping trip was interesting.
I made a list:
POST OFFICE
USA
10 postcard stamps
25 letter stamps
Germany
10 postcard stamps
10 letter stamps
GROCERY LIST
OTHER ERRANDS
First stop was the post office. The very nice clerk seemed to speak less English than I did Japanese - and I only knew “Good morning,” “Good bye,” and “Thank you.” After doing the typical polite but confused American routine of speaking slowly and with my hands, omitting every possible extra word and not raising my voice - “10 air mail post card U S A” - and not getting anywhere except really homesick on my part, the clerk saw my list and took it from me.
A few minutes later, she returned with several envelopes and hand-drawn maps.
The envelopes had the stamps I wanted and were labeled in English for me with the amount to use on each letter or postcard and which country. She and her colleagues also drew maps for me in English to the grocery store, rice store and other places I needed that day.
I was very glad that I had been taught a strong form of “Thank you” in Japanese, and I did say that several times. I really hoped and hope she understood how much she helped me that day!
I’m an expat living in Mongolia, and I’ve only been here for a few months, so I don’t speak Mongolian well yet and it’s difficult to communicate with the postal workers. But I go every week and buy new postcards, and they always have the same small selection. Twice now the postal workers have brought out special different post cards for me, and they let me try to talk in Mongolian with them. It’s very nice!
Back in my university days, I participated in a swap that encouraged the postal worker to look at my mail. My post office was at my university.
Someone sent a postcard with a message like: “Dear Postal Workers, We’re doing an experiment to see if this card is read by postal workers! Put a smiley face here if you’ve read this!!”
I received the postcard back with a giant sticky note and smiley face!
Transcribed message:
“Dear whoever wrote this,
We only read the postcard because it was addressed to us with the “Attention.” We would not have read it otherwise out of privacy. Sometimes we read the covers of the envelopes and sometimes we get ones that say “Hi Postal workers.” We love those. We are all student workers at the post office. These keep us very entertained. Hope you have a good day!”
Before I knew of postcrossing, my friend got me into NP cancellations. So cancellations are already special to me. On vacation I was sending a postcard home to ourselves, and that particular post office had a special hand cancellation stamp for their office. The clerk chose to hand stamp them and make them “more special”. Now that I am into postcrossing, it is especially special when I regularly see how many employees don’t want to do hand cancellations, even for a single card.
Yesterday I went to a post office located in the downtown area of the city. I go there because they are open late (until 6:30pm!), cards I mail there seem to travel more quickly, they usually have a good variety of stamps available, and the folks working there are so friendly. There’s a couple USPS desk staff who recognize me now, and one in particular is so curious about Postcrossing. We talk about Postcrossing each time I’m there.
During this visit, the conversation was about costs, of postage, but also affordability of cards. They were so happy to learn of two places I found to buy affordable tourist cards, as they get asked frequently by visitors. So I got to be a postcard and mail nerd with other like-minded people, and they learned about something that will make their job more enjoyable. A win-win!
Last week, I went to the post office to send out postcards. But I can’t stick stamps! Because my sister didn’t teach me. But now, I do! And I’m not tall enough to reach the staff counter. So she picked me up and placed me on a high stool. She taught me how to stick stamps. She also told me that my friend will receive postcards soon!
I just came back from the post office. I went in to ask for my postcards to be hand canceled. The clerk knows me because I do this pretty regularly and we’ve talked about postcrossing before. I handed her my postcards and wished her a nice weekend. As I was walking away, I heard her exclaim. I thought maybe I had gotten the postage wrong. As she was canceling the stamps, she noticed a 5 cent stamp that said Finland on it with a picture of the coat of arms (official postcard to someone in Finland). She said that she was from Finland and that it made her day to see the stamp. I told her I had recently received a few of the Finland stamps from eBay and offered to bring her in one next time. She said she was all set but it made me happy that I had inadvertently made her happy.
There have been a number of occasions that I loved the PO employee’s help. I’ve sent cards from many different places of travel here in Canada and the US. I will mention a few instances where I found there service above and beyond!
I usually have my cards and letters hand canceled at 5 different PO outlets. Two of the places I’m well known and if possible we chitchat! When my daughters go to pick up packages they’ve told them that they know there Dad!
I find when travelling out of town in the US or other parts of Canada that in non busy post offices they’ll hand cancel your card and also help you select pretty stamps for you! A quick selection of these places that went above and beyond service are as follows! Hyder Alaska population 80. Medora North Dakota, Medicine Bow Wyoming and in Canada Smith Falls NWT, Fort St James BC, Devon Alberta and Mt Lehman BC. These places went and found there special cancellation stamp or found unique stamps for me!
While on holidays in Lithuania last month visiting my wife’s hometown the postal lady recognized my wife after 40 years as a former classmate! She had to service us and we asked her to use pretty stamps! She went through all the stamps and showed us the different combos for each country! The next week we came again and she knew exactly what was needed for us to post!
Hello,
I am so envious of all of your beautiful stories. At our small post office (the only one in town), the staff are so unpleasant and unhelpful that I prefer not to go there unless I have to. They never wanted to sell special stamps or priority labels. Fortunately, I have the ability to order all of this on online mail order sites.
But I did have one pleasant experience. When we were on vacation at the other end of our country, I visited the local post office there. Maybe it was because I was the only customer at the time, but the lady at the counter was so nice! I think I bought all the beautiful stamps they had available and left with a draft in my wallet And I got the priority labels for free! I wish there were such employees in our city too
A couple weeks ago I was at the post office with my 4 year old daughter waiting in line to get our outgoing postcards hand cancelled. She was sad to see the postcards go that day, and sadly said ‘bye bye postcards’ as I handed them over. The post office clerk offered to have her stamp the cancels herself, which my daughter loved. She’s been extra excited going to the post office now - almost as excited to cancel the outgoing cards (if there’s not a line) as she is to get the incoming cards from our PO Box.
Last time we were there, the clerk was telling my daughter she was becoming a pro at this, and asked if they could call her when they need to hire new employees () and my daughter was just like ‘sure’, completely seriously.
I only found postcrossing when I was looking for a way to encourage her excitement about sending and receiving snail mail, so I really appreciate our clerks making it extra fun for her
And I got the priority labels for free! I wish there were such employees in our city too 
) and my daughter was just like ‘sure’, completely seriously.