While the USPS certainly has too many issues to describe, I would like to mention that while most post offices are closed to the public on certain days, the actual processing of the mail continues non-stop, 24/7, reguardless of holidays. During those times when the union postal employees have off, the work is done by contractors and “temporary” staff. I only know this because I worked for the USPS for 6 months between highschool and college. I was one of those “temporary” workers. My supervisor told me that as long as I was in a different department every 6 months, I could keep working there indefinitely and still be considered “temporary”, but I decided I’d had more then enough by that point (it was hard work and my coworkers were creepy).
I do hope your plants survive. Rest assured that they will not likely be parked in a truck that whole time.
I always suspected 'Priority Mail' was a thinly-veiled 'scam'; now I am sure of it.
UPDATE: that might have the case. The one NICE clerk at my local PO called real early this morning, told me she had the box, and that I could have it before opening if I came after it...grabbed my water bottle and headed out. I opened the box, and checked the root ball. After six days; still damp. (That leads me to believe that they did NOT spend the holiday weekend in a hot truck, and it was upper 80's all the way.) Leaves were weeping, so I gave them more water. Bottom line: they are beat up, and some of the limp branches will need to be clipped when they get their 'sea legs' back, but I believe all eight will live. Whew...Purple Haze and Goose Creek...did NOT want to lose those.
Final Score: WKWE/Tomatoes 8, USPS 0.
Nice try.