time has come to a stand-still....

...in US post offices across the nation that is.

The US Post Office has removed clocks from 37,000 postal outlets in order to alleviate the problem of people feeling like they're waiting in line for two long. A clockless atmosphere will apparently encourage a state of meditative interest in the workings of the postal service, without distracting with the sense of time's fleeting passage.

This sounds like a joke, but it's being reported by the Houston Chronicle: The USPS is removing clocks from post offices in order to allow customers to better "focus on the postal service."

"We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock," said Stephen Seewoester, Dallas spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

Um, correct us if we're wrong here but:

• People carry timepieces.

•The post office is not a casino. People aren't going to lose themselves in the fun and mail more letters than they'd originally intended.

Is this the best they can come up with?—MEGHANN MARCO

in related news, my favorite building in madrid is the oficina de correos (the post office).