Problems at the Post Office

I heard the story on the radio coming in to work this morning, and I noticed that Rich has a post today about the Downward Spiral of Snail Mail as well.

 

Seems that the United States Postal Service, citing a precipitous drop in the amount of mail it carried last year, is facing a severe cash flow challenge and reported a net loss of nearly $3 billion last year alone.

 

Postmaster General John Potter appealed to a Senate committee yesterday, asking for among other things, the ability to cut back postal delivery to five days from the current six days a week.

 

Potter is asking Congress to amend a 1983 Postal Service law that mandates mail delivery every day but Sunday.

Might not seem that significant, but it would be a fundamental change to a basic service that we've all grown accustomed to. I doubt most people would complain or even notice, but for seom this may be a major inconvenience. Certainly businesses that depend on the timely delivery of certain information (periodicals, bills, etc...) would be affected.

I guess change is in the air.

 

Did you know that the lightest day for mail delivery is Tuesday?

 

Neither did I.

 

I know in Canada, for example, their postal service does not deliver on Saturdays.

 

And while I love most things Canadian, I hope that this isn't a small first step towards a giant leap in moving our government to a more Canadian model, particularly when it comes to things like taxes, national healthcare, new shoes on budget day, and a couple of other odd laws, such as:

 

·         You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies.

·         Citizens may not publicly remove bandages. (maybe this is a good thing?)

·         It is illegal for clear or non-dark sodas to contain caffeine.

·         In British Columbia, it is illegal to kill a Sasquatch.

·         In Toronto, you can't drag a dead horse down Yonge St. on a Sunday.

 

Maybe the last two aren't so bad, but I think you see where I'm coming from.