Posting Good Cheer : Terminal Annex, Downtown Los Angeles : * ZIP: 90086 : * Number of people in line upon arrival: 6 : * Number in line upon departure: 9

Woe and misery seemed inevitable.

Going to a post office at Christmastime is a little like visiting Disneyland--except that there, after you spend eternity in line, at least you get to go on a ride.

At the U.S. Purgatory Office, on the other hand, you can only wish there was a Matterhorn mountain from which to personally hurl the 247 customers in front of you who are sending their packages by registered mail and who are filling out the necessary paperwork in an ancient form of slowly written Sanskrit that requires the clerk to disappear to a back room for half an hour to translate it.

Well, then, check out the Terminal Annex post office Downtown. OK, there was a cartoonish character wandering around the parking lot--a homeless woman in a Santa hat and white high heels--but the line inside was more like Euro Disney: only six people.

And the postal clerks were smiling and laughing as they dealt with customers--despite an apparent lack of nitrous oxide tanks behind the counters.

The place even has a “You Are Here” map of services at the entrance, directing people to copy machines, passport windows and a philatelic mart (closed during our visit). For art aficionados, there also are murals to admire along the building’s cavernous halls.

But be forewarned. Terminal Annex does have periods of interminable waits.

“It’s still early in the morning,” a clerk said when asked about the short lines.

“Come back after noon and it’s another story, believe me.”

Total Time: 6 minutes