I May Be In The Dark, But At Least I'm Right

First class postal rates went up to 41 cents as of today. That means if you mailed your electric bill with a 39 cent stamp, you'll soon be surfing the web by candlelight.

As insurance against future rate hikes, the Postal Service has been touting its new "Forever Stamp." You buy it now at 41 cents, and you can keep using it regardless of what future rates may be. In other words, you'll no longer have to buy those annoying two cent or three cent stamps as you use up your supply of out of date stamps.

Personally, I thought this sounded like an absolutely "stamptastic" idea, so I hurried down to the post office to buy one. Still, there was one thing I still didn't quite understand about the forever stamp, so I asked the clerk, "How do I get the stamp back?"

The clerk said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, these stamps are good forever, right?"

"Yes," said the guy behind the counter.

"So if I mail a letter, how do I get the stamp back so I can use it again?"

"Um, you don't. You can only use it once," he said with an air of authority that comes with working in shorts and knee high socks.

"Well, then the stamp's not really forever, is it?" I said with an air of resignation that comes with battling the logic of government employees for most of my adult life.

Anyway, we went back and forth on this until the police finally showed up.

Never did get my stamp, which is why I'm posting this by candlelight.