This is a service?

Aargh, it's happened - the thing you dread at this time of year - a card received from someone you haven't sent one to. It happened to me yesterday. Never mind, I thought, I'll get one into the post straight away, first class. Until, that is, I looked on the Royal Mail's website to discover that, despite the fact that there are (or were yesterday) three postal days still to go, I was already too late, as the last date for posting first-class mail for delivery by Christmas was last Tuesday! I can't help remembering when I was a lad and used to be a "Christmas relief" postman, if you posted a card to a local address in the morning, it would be delivered that afternoon, and to anywhere else in the country the next day. How things have changed.