I keep hearing bits and pieces about how the postal service is going under and losing money. Yesterday I had a experience that made the reasons for this very clear. First off, I had been driving around with this box in my car for days putting off the post office and avoiding it. It needed to go out though so I headed over to the west university branch with my big package in tow. Despite being the middle of the morning there was, of course, a line. There was also one employee servicing the line.

While I waited, an older man came up to the counter to do something simple like buy stamps only to be told they do not accept checks or credit cards but only debit cards and cash. My guess by the looks of him was that he didn't have or use a debit card and, I guess, he didn't have enough cash on hand. So, despite his long wait, he left empty handed. I watched the postal clerk and, even when a little girl with a care package to mail smiled at her, she never smiled back. She was like an unhappy statue.

My turn finally came. My box was big and to send it priority was going to be about $30. Parcel was $15. Fine, except that to send it parcel (she tells me stone faced), I had to purchase insurance, a roll of tape, a new label and the postage. I could not use her tape or a piece of scrap paper or even her pen. I also had to get out of line to do all of this and then wait in line again. I left with my box and went next door West U Boxes Pack and Ship. There was one person in line ahead of me and the smiling clerk taped up the box and affixed a new label without question or cost. They accepted my credit card and even personally emailed the tracking number to me later that day. The cost was around $23.

The whole experience got me thinking about customer service in general though. I'm wondering is customer service on the decline or have we become more demanding? Or both? I do think we've become insensitive as consumers and expect more and more for less. We're living in an instant gratification age and having to wait for things makes us crazy.

We want it all, even when we can't or don't want to pay for it. We have amazing technology all around us but freak out when our phones drop calls. Many of us have become rude to the people who are there to help us. We blah-blah on our phones while checking out at stores ignoring the other person in front of us like they were a robot. Maybe that is where my postal clerk got her affect? Maybe she wasn't always an unhappy statue?

I've been trying really hard to remember the days when you called a company and got a human, their voice mail or a busy signal. Now we are all waiting in line in the order that our calls have been received. Even information (411) has gone auto, which makes me crazy because they never understand what I am saying. I can remember the days before cell phones when you had a cassette tape in your answering machine but before that, not so much.

I've worked in the service industry as a bartender, in the kitchen at restaurants and even as a telemarketer (I know, the worst). Now, as a business owner myself, I know how hard it can be to keep everyone happy. Really, it's impossible. Things happen, bad days happen and mistakes happen. We're just people and people have flaws and limits. Employees may be new or unsure. The boss can't always be there and even the boss makes mistakes too.

So, what do you think? Have we become too demanding? Are we demanding more because we see customer service and personal interactions slipping away? Are we as much to blame as the seemingly unfriendly person behind the counter?