Going postal

I mailed my manuscript today to an agented writer friend in Pennsylvania. I need feedback from other novelists. I hope my adventure at a local postal center earlier today when I tried to mail it isn't any indication as to the feedback I may receive from her.

I'm a believer in hard-copy edits. I don't like sending enormous files online. So, when I mailed my hard-copy, I sent an SASE with it so my friend could send it back to me all covered in red ink. ;-)

I tried to explain to the girl at the counter, "I need equal postage for both envelopes."

I figured they'd sell me stamps because the last I checked, that's the only postage they sold.

But...they metered both envelopes.

I said, "No, I need stamps for one of the envelopes because you can't send a letter metered in one state from an address in another state."

She looked at me like I'd gone round the bend. This was after I explained to her that it was an SASE. She said in a duh voice, "It's postage. You can send metered mail wherever."

I said, "I know, but the woman who is getting this is going to mail it back to me from Pennsylvania with this envelope so it has to be paid for with stamps and not metered because the postal service has restrictions on how meter labels are used."

I finally just told her I needed $5.05 worth of stamps on one envelope and the metered postage could remain on the other. She fulfilled my request, but not without looking at me like I was committing a felony.

Lord, deliver me from the mail...