Is It Time To Junk The Mail?

Image via WikipediaThat old poem about how the mail doesn't stop for weather or anything else was written at a time when people really depended on what is now the United States Postal Service to deliver letters and needed packages.  For some, seeing the mail carrier was the highlight of their day.

We have less need now for the USPS, thanks to modern technology.  We read and send e-mail, ship through Fed Ex and UPS, use Facebook and Twitter, and even pay bills online.  As a result, we're sending and receiving less mail than we used to.  Most of what we do get tend to be bills and credit card offers, but that's another story.

But now the USPS--a quasi-governmental agency-- is at least $8 billion in the hole, and is seeking Congress' help in making major changes.  They want to . . .

• Close over 250 mail processing centers, eliminating 35,000 jobs.  It would also mean slowing the normal delivery time from one to two days.
• Eliminate over 3,000 post offices.
• Cut back mail service to five days a week, which means dropping Saturdays.

You can't just blame changing times on the decline of the Postal Service.  They brought some of this on themselves through ever-increasing postal rates, which is what made the "Forever" stamp necessary.

How about inconsistent delivery times?  In our neighborhood, depending on the carrier, the mail can get delivered any time during the day.  It might be morning one day, 12:30 the next, 3 p.m. the next, and  . . . well, you get the point.  If the mail doesn't arrive by at least 6 p.m., you might as well assume you didn't get anything.  It doesn't take Cliff Clavin to figure out why they call it "snail mail".

Granted, the United States Postal Service still performs a valuable service.  They are really the only ones who can handle your personal correspondence, such as a greeting card, in your own personal handwriting.  Post offices are often a small town's link to the outside world.  Their rates are reasonable, compared to the other guys.  And it has history on its side, with a legacy that goes back to Ben Franklin and the Pony Express.

Before we send the USPS to the Dead Letter Office (or whatever they call it these days), consider this:  Online communications are vulnerable to severe weather, computer crashes and hacking.  The mail is not.