United States Postal Service
Our government is killing next day mail service as early as April.
The debt ridden Postal Service has seen its share of pitfalls, for sure. People are emailing more, mailing less. Online commerce has taken its toll on business- they just can’t compete with FedEx or UPS on time or network any longer and sustain regular service for no charge.
There are two bills making their way through the chambers of Congress at this very moment, but they just delay the inevitable. There has to be some tough decisions to make and we’re all just a tad too sentimental to admit it quite yet.
I remember how exciting it was getting mail as a kid. I had some interesting relatives- some that lived in Turkey, Germany, London and Tokyo. They’d send me candies and magazines in languages I didn’t understand and coins from every country. I even have a pair of those curly toed shoes because I was fascinated with the concept of Aladdin at the time (my aunt was stationed in Turkey when that movie came out. It enthralled me. I also still maintain an unabashed love of camels. Don’t judge me.)
Now, it’s drab and boring…as my amazing packages from far away lands have dwindled to bills and the occasional letter from my dear darling grandma.
We didn’t hear much about this until recently. In fact, the acceleration of the Postal Service’s demise (as it’s been fantasized about in an orgasmic fashion by those tools who write business degree text books for about a decade.) was created by the passing of a 2006 bill called the ‘Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act.’ This lovely little piece of legislative murder made it so the Postal Service is required to pay- over the next ten years, the health benefits of every worker likely to retire within the next 75 years.
This is something that no other government agency has to do. Someone, somewhere, hated the the Postal Service and wanted to sentence it to a quick moratorium.
Use it. I encourage you too. Let’s save this iconic American Institution. If you need a penpal, email me at Kristenbowie [@] gmail.com and we will talk.
