United States Postal Service at 16595 Highway 175, Cobb, California.

My mother has had a difficult week. While my father was out of town, she misplaced her car keys, leaving her stranded at home. She couldn't pick up a medication she needed, missed a meeting, and couldn't go to the store. I missed work on Friday to bring her the medication and take her to an appointment.

On top of everything else, she had a *paycheck* in the mail but her post office box key was on the chain with her car keys. That check needed to go in the bank, so when she hadn't found them by Friday, she decided to go into the office and ask the clerk for her mail.

The clerk, Sally Brown, refused. Her reasoning was, "If we do it for you, we'd have to do it for everybody." It was 11:30am on June 22nd. There were no other customers present.

Cobb Mountain is a small community with a tiny population. My parents have lived here since 2004 - *eight* years. Not only did my mother have ID on hand to prove her identity, but Sally knows my mother from the *many* times she has been there before.

My mother came home wishing that she didn't live here. What's the good of living in a small community that knows you, she asked, if they won't help you in times like this?

Personal policy or professional protocol, this was indefensible and unconscionable behavior by clerk Brown. My mother was asking for help in unusual circumstances; not a favor of convenience. She was not asking them to do anything they wouldn't do normally if she were expecting a package. Her identity was not in question and the security of her mail was not threatened. Sally was not working alone - her associate Bob was working in back. There were no customers waiting to be served, or to overhear and feel similarly entitled, as implied.

I reiterate; this was utterly inappropriate, inexcusable, and uncalled for, and precisely exemplifies the source of public disenchantment with the entire institution.