An anonymous critic called the new seal a retrograde step. (retrograde: regressive, backward, retrogressive) A reactionary councillor praised it for exactly the same reason. (reactionary: ultraconservative, backward-looking, regressive) Both missed the practical question. Could an extra approval prevent an error, or would the extra stop just delay the mail?
The manager's prudential argument rested on a single disastrous mailing. (prudential: prudent, cautious, judicious) She wanted to protect the most vulnerable addresses. (vulnerable: susceptible, exposed, unprotected) Her assistant suggested restricting the seal to that class of letters. An indiscriminate requirement would add undue work to every desk. (indiscriminate: undiscerning, unselective, wholesale; undue: excessive, unwarranted, unjustified) The resulting delay could outstrip any benefit. (outstrip: surpass, outpace, exceed)
They tried both systems with dummy mail. The narrower rule caught the same errors. The assistant kept the second stamp and, to the pleasure of both critics, used it less than either had expected.