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I had to write a letter to an 90 year old lady who was a friend to my parents. She wrote me for Christmas and I was so surprised that she was still alive, all other friends of my parents are dead.
Now it was ages that I haven't written a snail mail. Writing was not a problem but then .... Instead of clicking on "sent" as I do with my emails, I had to put on my coat, my boots and a warm bonnet and then drive to the post office !
I had never been there it had moved and now it is located in a brand new building. 6 counters were open. That's nice I thought it will go very quick, I only had to buy one stamp for Germany. At a closer look I saw that in 3 counters nobody was sitting, in the 4th a lady enjoyed a cup of coffee and faked to be invisible. On the 5th counter was written "Express Service".
I lined up we were about 7 people. Fortunately one lady asked me if I had a ticket. I said "a ticket for what ?" the service was numbered. I pulled out a ticket and had n° 36 (?). Then I stand again in the line.
Fortunately I was in the Express service because "already" 20 min later it was finally my turn. Somebody shouted "n° 36" ! I checked my ticket and yes I had the right number. The man looked at me and asked what I wanted. I said, one stamp for Germany. He took out a folder and slowly turned the pages until he finally handed me over one stamp with our King's head on it. I noticed that now he was wearing glasses ! Really was it such a long time I hadn't bought a stamp ? I asked "how much" and he told me 90 cents ! that's almost 1 € (1.3 $ !) I couldn't believe it ! Last time I had payed maybe 30 cents not more. Sending snail mails has become a luxury and you are not even sure if the letter arrives !
Fortunately I had asked my old friend to give me her phone number because it would be cheaper to talk to her then to write and on the phone you can say much more than in a letter !
Probably in a few years it is cheaper to deliver your letters yourself !