#278 Lazy Daze

I sometimes wonder if we are already entering into that laziness as a culture thing that brought Rome down after a mere 8 or 10 centuries. Are we soon to be soaking in public baths and having our grapes peeled for us? I mean remote controls are bad enough. But do we really need to extend the hours at the post office on tax day. Consider this year. We had an extra 2 days to do taxes. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m at the stage in my life where I’m pretty well certain that tax day is always around 15th of April. It’s hyped in all the media. It’s the only thing comedians talk about, you can’t help but overhear conversation about it if you have any connection with humanity whatsoever. So why the big rush on the 15th? Or in this years case, the 17th? Just because the government says you have till 11:59 on tax day, you don’t have to wait that long. Say you owe taxes. Say you’re paying by check. Does it really matter if you put the taxes in at five o’clock or midnight? Do you think there are IRS employees poised at the mailboxes ready to rip open tax returns and run directly to the bank, or E-F-T- your check before you even have time to get back home? Not likely. Gosh, you got a good day till your check makes it to Ogden or Sacramento or wherever and if it’s in the pile with the other last minute filers it’ll be a least a couple of days before it clears the bank. So why the heck wait till the last second? Again, just cause the government says you have till midnight, it’s not a requirement.
For many years I worked in retail and I noticed an interesting phenomenon. No matter when your posted hours of closing were, you always had people coming in at five minutes to close. If you closed at 9:00 they came in a 8:55. If you closed at 6:00 they came in at 5:55. If you closed at 5:00, they came in at 4:55. It used to bug the heck out of me. Why couldn’t people be more sympathetic? Did I show up at their widget factory five minutes before they were about to get off shift and make it impossible for them to go home? But I finally learned something. These were the last minute people. They would always put off action till the last possible second. And they will be at the post office five minutes before it closes no matter when. So let the poor postal workers have normal day on the 15th. We are an odd society. We will get up at the crack of dawn on the day after thanksgiving to be the first in line to spend a small fortune on a doorbuster sale but linger till the bitter end to fork over a few bucks to the gov’mint come tax day. And our government, in the form of the semi-autonomous postal service, accommodates us. And also, in the process, incurs all kinds of extra labor costs that can only be paid with, yep, more taxes. Buck up America. Peel your own grapes. Early.
America, ya gotta love it.