The Post Office blues...

The other day, I went to the post office to send off some last minute Easter stuff. As I was standing in line, I took the opportunity to look at all the USPS boxes available for no charge. I started thinking how they must have to compete a lot with UPS, FedEx and DHL due to the digital age now. So many people don't use postal services anymore, and that makes me sad.

As I child, I had many a pen pal. That was one of my favorite things to do: send and receive mail. It was such a fun time waster in the summers too. I used to swap letters with my grandmother on a weekly basis. And I even still have these letters. They are so fun to go back and read every couple of years. It's like a little flashback to the past, and it is so comforting to know I had that relationship with her and other relatives at such a young age.

And I had even more fun finding pretty paper and cards to send to people. It was like sending a little present here and there, but only cost me twenty-five cents to send. And if you could include pictures that was even more satisfying. One of life's simple pleasures that has almost ceased to exist.

I often wonder if kids even know how to rate these days?! They are too busy texting and surfing the internet to ever pick up a pen and paper.

Now, I am lucky if I get a letter once a month or even once every three months. It's all junk. All junk and some bills now and again. And even most bills I get electronically anymore, so there are fewer of those every year too.

Since I don't get much mail, I have started subscribing to more magazines. At least I have SOMETHING to look forward to receiving in the mail since I will never get a letter. And it is not just that I don't get them, I don't send them either. Like everyone else in the world, it is more convenient for me to take a few moments of my time to blast off an email, that of which I can edit and re-edit again and again and copy and paste to send parts to other folks I might want to update myself with and vice-versa.

I still stock up on pretty paper, thank you notes, note cards, etc... but I very rarely take the time to send them out. I need to start sending them out, because before long I could probably open up my own Hallmark!

Here is a cool little transcript from Andy Rooney from last Fall about how the Post Office is struggling.

What’s Happening to the Post Office?

Andy Rooney Has Gotten Wind of Potential Changes to the Postal Service and He’s Not a Fan (CBS) This segment was first broadcast Oct. 4, 2009.

I got an e-mail from a friend I never heard of the other day suggesting I do a story about the trouble that our U.S. Postal Service is in - that’s what the post office calls itself, the U.S. Postal Service. I don’t take suggestions gracefully, but they’re thinking about closing post offices to save money and

I think it’s crazy.

According to them, there are 37,000 post offices in the United States and if they closed 10 percent of them they could save $3 billion a year. They’re also talking about reducing mail delivery from six to five days a week and naturally they thought about raising the price of stamps again, too. Most of us don’t like any of these solutions to the post office’s problem.

The best mail is the letter from a friend or a relative. It’s sad to say that very little of what most of us get these days is that kind of mail. The postal service is a government agency but it’s supposed to operate like a business. Most people don’t realize that - I know I didn’t realize it - but the post office doesn’t get tax money. It has to pay for itself.

In 1900, there were 77,000 post offices around the country. Today with four times as many people, there are only 37,000 post offices - 40,000 fewer post offices for 230 million more Americans. No wonder it wasn’t in the mail. We have a lot of things that need cutting, but post offices are not

among them.

There’s something special about a letter. We all like to get one. An e-mail, on the other hand, has all the charm of a freight train. When I was growing up we all knew when the mailman was coming and we waited for him even though we hardly ever got a letter. People actually wrote letters to each other though, which they don’t do as much anymore. They e-mail each other. I would rather have a mailman or woman deliver junk mail to me, than toget an e-mail.

“What’s Happening to the Post Office?” Narr. By Andy Rooney.

6o Minutes. CBS, 14 March 2010. cbsnews. Web. 15 March 2010. Transcript.

So, I have decided I am going to try to sell my boss the USPS express mail services. They have the great deal on a flat right sized box, etc... that seems like an awesome way to compete with UPS. You can print your labels at your own home or office, which is yet another perk of UPS's services as well. I don't want to see the Post Office go away. I have so many fond memories of it being so kind as to keep me connected to family and friends in the 80s and 90s.

Now, we have to try and save them, before the digital world
kicks them off the planet.

http://www.usps.com/