So we hear the USPS is having difficulties. People are about to lose their jobs. Not people at the top, mind you; but those at mid-level. That old ‘working class’ level. We’ve all seen this coming – the Post Office has in the past been accused of mismanagement of one thing or another. No news there. And there is always whining in the background about money.
I have a few comments on this.
First, take a page from that school superintendent who recently retired and stayed on in the job for something like $30,000 a year. Whoa – big impact. The Postmaster General could take a hint from that guy. Slash the salaries at the top….not the lower or middle wages. I’d like to see the Postmaster General outside slogging around in the nasty weather carrying a 100 lb bag of mail and we’ll see if he thinks the mid-level salaries should be cut, or those folks should be layed off. The guys (& ladies) in the middle are the ones doing the work…Hello? Anybody listening?
Here’s another tip for the USPS – Quit coming up with new stamps every five minutes. Do you know how expensive the process is of designing and producing a new stamp? What a waste of money. Plain stamps and an occasional commemorative…then throw in a few Christmas or other appropriate Holiday stamps and be done with it.
Now…stop selling ridiculous items like tee shirts. I walked into my local post office not long ago and I was surprised to find they have a host of “junk” items for sale. Ding, ding, ding….NOBODY buys this stuff USPS! Nobody. Stop it. Save that money.
One idea that’s been floating around for a long time is stopping Saturday delivery of mail. I don’t have any heartburn with that one if it will truly make a difference and save some of those jobs. I think it would be a better idea to clean up the mess internally and restructure first…but what do I know? I’m just an ordinary blog writer who once in a while yells at the USPS because her mail is not being delivered and her mailman is surly. (Hey, he’s in one of those post office trucklets – how bad can that be? Oh yeah, I find him up at the local coffee hang-out a lot, too….hmmmm).
Now don’t send me hate comments and don’t get on my case about how the mail always gets through because it doesn’t. My mailman doesn’t make an extra effort to get the mail to us if the snow is bad and the road hasn’t been plowed. He waits for another day. And, heaven forbid, someone should park close to my mail box — he will put a nasty note in my box to inform me he doesn’t have to deliver the mail if he can’t drive RIGHT UP to the box. Plus if I should receive a package that doesn’t fit in my “regulation size” mailbox, it pains him to walk up to my front door and ring the bell. I always thank him but he seems so put out. Did he not know what this job entailed when he entered the USPS? Or was he just interested in a cushy government job w/great benefits?
Oh yeah…let’s talk about those “benefits.” I was once a government employee and I can tell you government jobs are the best because of the benefits. I say, make them pay more for their health care like the rest of us and quit with the sick days that you ‘bank’ and then ‘sell back’ when you retire. Enough could be saved right there to keep everyone on the job.
Are more people emailing or using other ways to deliver information that normally would have gone through the USPS? Absolutely. Raise your hand if you bank online (wow look at all those hands). We still need the Post Office. It’s an American Institution, if nothing else. Plus I like the uniforms. And, it gives EmmaLou, Golden Destroyer something to look forward to barking at.
I have other ideas, but I’m out of stamps and have to run to the Post Office…sigh…
