Going Postal Chapter 9: Bonfire: Moist has now fully entered his favorite mode:
“I have no idea what I’m doing… but I’ll do it confidently.”
He starts by dealing with the reality of the Post Office: it’s not just broken, it’s historically broken. People have been surviving around it rather than because of it. But Moist doesn’t fix systems — he fixes perception.
So he recruits people, reorganizes chaos, and basically invents a functioning operation out of enthusiasm, bluff, and just enough structure to keep it from collapsing immediately. Suddenly people believe again. And once they believe, things start moving.
There’s also a nice little side lesson:
Give people a uniform, a title, and a bit of pride… and they’ll work miracles for free.
Meanwhile, Moist keeps building his “brand” as Postmaster. Stamps, deliveries, energy, momentum. It’s not perfect, but it’s alive. And alive beats dead.
But under the surface, things are tightening.
Mr Gryle — calm, precise, and about as forgiving as a knife — is quietly closing in. Not rushing. Not emotional. Just… inevitable.
👉 ”If you can’t fix the system, make people believe it works — and suddenly it kinda does. Also, somewhere in the background: death is walking toward you at a steady pace.”