flat rate boxes - friend or foe

I'd like to apologize to my siblings and parents in advance for the packages that you will receive from me this holiday season. Not because the gifts are unsentimental or poorly planned, but because I watched and was won over by those USPS commercials. You know the one where the wife makes a deal with her husband and he goes shopping and she ships the gifts....

I, like many others I'm sure, went to the post office and acquired various sized flat rate boxes to mail my loved ones their presents -only to find that the awkward shapes do not lend themselves to shipping anything at all. A single item rolls around - while more than one are smashed uncomfortably up against one another. Ultimately, it just doesn't work.

My sister, bless her heart, is going to find that the packages I wrapped that didn't fit in the medium nor the large size flat rate box, were wrapped then unwrapped (by me) - removed from their boxes, all extraneous materials removed to allow extra space and then presents were re-wrapped and crammed back into the box,which was eventually, successfully sealed. (The biggest victory of the evening was getting the box closed)

But was it really a success? The gifts that I took the time to make, gather, coordinate, now smashed mercilessly into a box marked flat rate? What am I saving - really? Not money, I have no idea how much it would cost just to send it in a regular  box, one appropriate to the size of the objects it will hold. Also, not time; I painstakingly wrapped the gifts once, tried to pack them in the box, then unwrapped, then re-wrapped, then jammed them into the box  in a fit of frustration in the end. Neither energy, nor enthusiasm was saved.

And here am I, one of the many who bought the sales pitch, a little less noble - definitely humbled by the experience. Good job USPS; I can see you have my best interest at heart.