Meanwhile in Norway
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Okay, I can’t work this out. Why would an ATM need to accept coins?
So you can deposit coins in your account? Most modern ATMs let you withdraw and deposit money
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In Japan, the smallest bill is 1,000 yen (roughly 9 USD), and 100 and 500 yen coins are commonly and widely used.
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Seems like it’s common overseas. Here, I’ve never seen an ATM that can accept anything other than cheques and notes as deposits.
Prior to the fuckery with Dejoy, the USPS is still the quickest and cheapest option for most mail. It’s one of the most solid public institutions we have, which explains why the GOP have been determined to undermine it for decades now. When it’s not being forced to act like an other private corporation that’s expected to turn a profit, it just works.
If we stopped believing that everything in our society MUST turn a profit for some rich asshole and started funding our public sector properly, things would be much better off. 
Unfortunately, there are too many people who really believe that there is no such thing as a “public good” and therefore everything that works must be destroyed so they can profit from it.
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Still true. 7/11 is your best bet for foreign bank cards.
It is as useful a tip in Japan as it is in Canada.
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I didn’t know they take them in Canada, thanks for that. I kept getting mistaken for a Canadian last visit to… a city… because, and I quote “you actually use CAD and aren’t an asshole” 
(Exchange rate was roughly 1:1, but when in Rome, buy some Tim Horton’s… much respect to the CADians, cake style donuts are better than Krispy Kreme 
)
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With the Mexican peso devalued as much as it is, you tend to find payment/utility ATMs here with coin slots in addition to the bill slot.
I didn’t realize the Post ran the buses! It was so wonderful to be able to just hop on the bus to Baden, then the train to Wien if we wanted. No waiting in line at a ticket counter; you just got on and eventually the fare collector would come by with their fancy coin-dispenser belt, rolls of tickets and holepunch. I was just a kid, but we could get anywhere we wanted, so easily.
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A person in the US Virgin Islands can have a letter hand-delivered to another American in rural Alaska for less than 60 cents, using a government service that costs the taxpayers nothing at all.
But please, do go on about how terribly inefficient and unreliable the US Postal Service is compared to its free-market competitors.
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People love to whinge about the post office, but constantly depend on it to function properly… It’s the same thing with government organizations like the EPA or FDA. They work, but have been under attack from the right, had issues, and some people take that as a sign that they never worked right. Bullshit. You put the right amount of public funding, staff it properly, and let people do their job, they work.
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I’ve had waaaaaaaay more slow delivery and lost package problems with FedEx and XPO and UPS than I’ve ever had with the US Postal Service. And those companies are more expensive, and don’t give a shit when they fail to provide the service you’ve paid them for. In fact, that’s part of why all those private courier companies rely on USPS to do a significant chunk of their business for them!
Also USPS is the only one that lets you ship scorpions, and still delivers one route on donkey. That’s just cool.
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The USPS doesn’t even get any public funding, and is entirely self-funded. Which is especially tricky for them because they literally need an act of Congress every time they want to raise the postal rates to keep up with their costs. Pretty amazing they’re able to stay solvent given the restrictions they’re under.
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Sure, but I’m talking about stuff like this…
It is still a critical public institution and should be treated as such. How we’ve come to treat our shared resources as society is unconscionable.
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What does that have to do with charging you a fee to cash a check?
There are dozens of ways the tax system could be improved. Such as simply mailing people a bill, like many other developed countries do. The reason they don’t is the same reason everything in America is terrible- Lobbying and regulatory capture. Intuit spends billions making sure the tax system remains terrible so they can sell you terrible software every year to “solve” the “problem”. A return to public campaign financing may be the only thing that can save the United States.
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But it’s UNAMERICAN if someone can’t profit off something!!! /s
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I’m not saying the USPS isn’t cheap, or that there’s nothing good about it. I’m saying a government that has an extensive surveillance network to suit themselves suddenly acts like we’re back in the Pony Express era when it comes to tracking its customers’ packages and guaranteeing their timely delivery.
That’s… not what you said. You said the post office sucks (essentially). You didn’t say anything about surveillance… And of course, private corporations ALSO use tracking, too. I’m not sure moving the goal post is helping your cause here… not to mention private corporations are tracking you online, with your phone, etc.
Besides, the government also has information on you like your SSN (because they, you know, issued it), your home address, etc, etc, because of taxes and the like. 
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