OK. I’ve spent a great portion of my life thinking that the United States Post Office was actually one of the best divisions of the government. (That’s hard to say for a Libertarian). It actually worked. Think of it, if you put a relatively inexpensive 44 cent stamp on a piece of mail and pop it in a blue box, you can confidently assume it will get to its destination. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but it will almost, without doubt end up where you want it to go.
With that said, the P.O. must go! Yesterday, for the 67th time in the last three years, I made a mad dash to my local P.O. branch, only to find it was closed. Again, during what we Americans consider “normal” postal business hours: 9AM-5PM. The last five times I have needed to run to the post office, here’s the sign I have seen in the window:
See the image of the normal operating hours of my P.O. below:
What service does it give to have hours that are convenient for the postal workers, and not their customers? I mean, really, who plans their trips around the erratic hours of operation of the post office? What if Target, or Wal-Mart operated the same way? When you need a new pair of Wrangler jeans or a birthday card for Aunt Ginnie, you can drive to the store to buy it. You can assume that, if you’re visiting that store in the middle of the day, it’s a pretty safe bet that Target and Wal-Mart are open. They will welcome you with open arms – there will even be a nice retired gentleman at Wal-Mart to offer you a shopping cart. Not so at the post office!
If I head to the post office after my lunch hour, the post office will be closed because the postmaster will be at home watching “One Life to Live.” If I chase out the door to send off a package before they close at 5PM, they will already have been closed since 4:30!
I guess, my point is, who plans their life around a service that is so integral to all our lives? Why should I have to remember, “I can head to the post office by 12:30PM today, unless on Saturday when they’re only open to 10:30. I’d better make it for sure by 12:30 because if I don’t, I’ll have to wait until 2:30 and go again,” This causes one to put your index finger to your mouth, move it up and down, and make that rubber lip loony bin sound, “BBbbbBbBbBBbbb…”
Let’s make this easy on everyone. If budget is an issue and the post office is in danger of going bankrupt, stop with the odd hours and difficult-to-remember schedule. It serves no one to operate with on-again/off-again hours of operation. Just cut Saturday delivery. That’s a start. I mean, who cares if you don’t get mail on Saturday? Most of the business world works Monday through Friday and has the weekends off. So should the post office. Run the post office like a business. It’s also easier to remember when someone will actually be there to sell you a stamp.
With this system, rather than all of us having to schedule our days so that I can arrive at the post office when it’s actually open, I can simply remember “The post office isn’t open on Saturdays and it is open Monday through Friday from 9-5.” Done. Simple. Easy. The world will still turn, the sun will still rise in the east, we all will get our mail one day later, and the postal workers will have to record their daytime TV and watch it at night like the rest of us.
It’s time to make these useless local P.O.’s and their odd hours of operation go away. Close them up. Route mail through the big distribution hubs like Fedex does. Those without transportation can order their stamps over the phone or online. Or, even better, just put a kiosk in local grocery stores like the banks do. They’re more convenient and they could probably keep longer hours for less money.
I know that our country’s postal workers are dedicated and hard working. It’s unfortunate that the current state of our economy has possibly put some of their jobs in jeopardy. But, it’s time to cease half-measures and fix it, privatize it, or flush it.
