My Franchise Tax/Fee Finally ArrivedOn the 9th Day After its Postmark

by Greg Franklin

There were no extra postal stamps or markings indicating that my SLI Tax/Fee bill had taken any detour, so the evidence shows that it apparently was postmarked in Rochester, NY, on the 18th of March and arrived in my Silver Lake Postal Box on the 26th of March which is the 9th day from its being sent from Perry, NY. Since it is only a one hour drive to the city, my bill along with at least 3 others, must have sat in one or more postal offices--14530, 14692, and/or 14549. I am left to wonder how this mechanized delivery compares to the days of old when letters were hand canceled and the Pony Express ran its routes through the dirt roads of Western New York.

Actually, I feel rather lucky. Last year there were several Franchise Tax/Fee bills that never did show up, while others were 4 or more weeks later in the delivery process. Is it any wonder why so many have converted over to email in place of postal delivery? Whether true or not, it certainly seems that as the price of a stamp increased, so did the delivery time.

You may wonder why I changed my "vote" (on the poll above) from "did not receive yet" to "wrong address after 3/21." Even though there is no record on the envelop of my bill having transferred around, it did in fact have an incorrect zip code on it--14526 (Penfield); but even a 1 day stop over in Penfield still doesn't account for 9 days. On this day before Easter Sunday, it seems appropriate to note that it took Jesus Christ only 3 days to be raised from the dead; one would think a letter could be received in the same amount of time (if not sooner)!