In many ways, I feel like saying, “ha ha” to the United States Postal Service. Take that! Take that, for bringing me all those bills in my mail. I say this because USPS can’t even pay its own bills.
Personally, I never knew that the Post Office falls under a special umbrella of the U.S. government: “independent agency.” So what’s that in English? They need to make a “profit” in order to survive, no different than any other business; and by the end of September, they’re going to be hard up for cash.
A recent article published in Gizmodo mentioned the Postal Service and its dilemma. I summarized this as “not only are they going under, but they’re going under fast – minus the life vest.”
According to the article, “The postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, might get rid of Saturday mail delivery, lay off 120,000 workers and close up to 3,700 post offices – all in an effort to lessen the Post Office’s deficit, which will be $9.2 billion this fiscal year. Why? Well, labor costs too much and revenue is down.”
Congress is having problems balancing its checkbook; we all know that. However, the Post Office will be last in line for a swanky bail out. The Postal Service is about to default on a payment of $5.5 billion. Personally, if that were my bar tab, I’d be long gone by now.
So what does this really mean to you and me? Could such a closure mean those unflattering blue uniforms will be a thing of the past or just last season’s fashion? How many miles will we have to travel to lick a stamp?
The closing of one post office to forsake three others will lead to questions such as, ‘I’ll have to use yours? Which costs me how much more with mileage?’
Personally, I like the Post Office, although, it may not seem so obvious. I do. My mail always reaches the correct destination, I’m rarely overcharged and its adamant about delivering those dreaded bill envelopes. My question here is really about after effect and repercussion. If the Post Office becomes a thing of the past, what will be the “proxy?”
According to the New York Times, “Mail volume has plummeted with the rise of email, electronic bill-paying and a web that makes everything from fashion catalogs to news instantly available. The system will handle an estimated 167 billion pieces of mail this fiscal year, down 22 percent from five years ago.”
And so the debate goes: The “Internet” killed pen pals. Pen pals became email junkies, and it all became convenient.
The Postal Service suffered greatly from this “cyber Santa of opportuneness;” and the after effect: The whole shebang simply cost us more.
Rather than playing the blame game, I ask where is the solution? Unknowing to some, the Postal Service is actually a necessity. By how much, I’m not sure.
Think about your grandparents. What if they aren’t keyboard savvy? Perhaps they don’t have access to a computer, never mind knowing how to use one? How will those people function? And has anybody given thought to our troops overseas? They rest heavily upon the post service as a gateway to home.
Seasoned veterans know all too well the power of mail. U.S. Army veteran Mike Rivera said, “Mail-call was the best part of my day, reminded me why I was far away from home and what I was doing was for my country. Without mail-call, I would have been miserable and down.”
So yes, I guess we still need the Postal Service, perhaps in a quota that we can afford. The kind of quota that doesn’t kill the messenger. Congress needs to empty its handbag and re-evaluate those nickels and dimes.