"How much does a 2-cent stamp cost?" - actual question I've heard

The postal rates are going up on May 14th, just a reminder. We have a postal sub-station at the customer service desk where I work, so we get people asking about this constantly. I just tell them that the rate is going up to 41 cents for a letter, and that yes, we will be selling the 2-cent stamps, and we will have the new "Forever Stamps" when the time comes. I didn't realize, however, that the rates are going to be all kinds of confusing for anything other than a regular envelope.

Apparently there are going to be 3 different size qualifications, starting with the letter, which entails anything under a certain measurement and under 3.5 ounces. Then there's some other size bracket, and then finally, everything that doesn't fall under those two go to the "package" category. Exciting stuff, right? Imagine how exciting a nearly 2-hour training session on this was, via conference call no less! Everyone had their packets and sheets, and then two people in some unknown, far-off location guided us through some PowerPoint-type thing. To the man guiding us, every package or form was a "bad boy," as in "When a customer wants to insure their package, fill out this bad boy," or "If the bad boy is over 15 inches, you use your flowchart here," (yes, we were given a flowchart) "and you'll see that it goes into this category." He had to have said it at least 15-20 times. Then there was the postal website, which the man and the woman speaking had to have practiced saying together. It was eerie. Kind of like some infomercial where everyone says the phone number at the same time.

When I wasn't busy text messaging one of my co-workers also getting trained (we both decided that a stiff drink was warranted, even if it was 10 in the morning), I was trying to pay attention, I really was. I mean, I really like flowcharts, honestly. Dan (another co-worker) and I both knew that we were going to be the ones training people back at the store, and fixing their mistakes, so we paid attention to the parts we needed to, like insurance, international, and some priority mail stuff. That being said, we both agreed that there will be some mistakes made. It's a given. So yeah.

Anyways, that's been occupying my time for part of the morning, then school-related stuff, and now a break for blogging. I will try to get my Big Idea stuff worked out to get posted later today or this evening, but if worse comes to worse, It'll be up Saturday afternoon. Sorry, I do have things that will be taking priority over the next day or two. And that includes finishing my "Cinco de Mayo" mini beer tour at Old Chicago. It's something that needs to be done.