In Praise Of The Post Office

Let's say something nice for change! I'm a fan of the USPS and always have been. Grandpa Youtzy was a postman his entire life in Cedar Rapids IA. In that day the postman was a respected member of the community. He made enough to support four kids in a solid middle class IA way. Grandmother never worked. It's been fashionable to beat up on postal workers for a while. People are fooled by politicians and union-bashers into thinking they live high on the hog at the public's expense. The fiction that the post office is a) sucking the taxpayer's tit and 2) losing money regularly is 1) ludicrous and b) mean-spirited in the extreme. The USPS is not funded by the government. If Congress had not mandated that their corporation pre-fund the retirement pay of postal workers not yet born their books would be in fine shape, thank you very much. Ooooh, a first class letter is dang near fitty cents! Locally it's not unusual to get next day service. Look around the globe and see what they pay for service. There are many locales where streets don't have names and houses don't have numbers. The postal service (thanks, Ben Franklin!) was an organizing principle in the creation and development of our country. When was the last time your postal delivery was cancelled because it was too hot or too cold or too snowy or rainy? My postman has been making deliveries to my renter who's engaged in some secret project (killer robot, world domination?) to the tune of 10-13 packages a day. Do you think the postman gets paid by the piece? If you want them to fold you are welcome to patronize FEDEX and UPS to your heart's content and your wallet's despair. The people who are selling you this stanky bit of goods want to destroy the USPS because it's one of (if not the primary) largest unions left. The work of post office employees cannot be outsourced to other countries where people make (literally) cents per hour to sew your fashions and fashion your phones in factories that fall (or burn) down and kill hundreds. Nice pants! Love your skids! As noted previously my bank (BBVA Compass) wanted $8 for a money order. The USPS charged me $1.20. They stay open past 5 for your convenience. On occasion they are the sole social connection left for the elderly, disabled and homebound. Want to impress someone you know and/or love? Send them a letter by mail. Folks hang onto real, honest-to-goodness letters (sometimes for years) to remind themselves of your kind attention. People archive emails so they can crush you later in court. So, you can tell the counter person at your local PO or the person who delivers at your home or office that you appreciate what they do. How tough is that?