"The Post Office Department, a branch of the Federal Governent, recognizes this man Kris Kringle to be the one and only Santa Claus."

Memaw didn't write many letters or send many cards, but if you got one, you knew it really meant something. Although I was about half hour away from her when I went to college, about once a month I would still get a card from her with $5 in it. I talked to her once a week and went home once a month, but that card meant everything to me (and the $5 was sorely needed!!).

I guess the price of a stamp is going up again. Stamps cost $0.78 right now--I actually had to look it up. I do buy stamps, but by the books (which is 100 at a time). I buy them at Costco and they are actually cheaper--I don't know how that happens because the federal government sets the price:)

I do send things in the mail. I send all my family members--siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews on both sides--birthday cards and some anniversary cards. I like doing it because I don't always remember to wish them a happy birthday on their actual day. I also think it is still nice when you get a card in the mail. My Memaw instilled that pleasure in me. I don't write letters usually--I send a text or an email.

If you ask the younger generation, I bet most would say they can't remember the last time they sent anything in the mail--probably about the same time they wrote a check! Things change and not always for the bad or good--just change. I seriously doubt my daughters write checks. I know I write about 5 or 6 a year. I know my daughters rarely send anything in the mail. I also know that my youngest, along with some of her cousins, NEVER check their mailbox. Why would they? Almost everything important is delivered either by email, text, or UPS (not the post office).

Even an oldie like me, who gets mail most days, rarely gets anything in the mail that is meaningful. In this past week (7 days), I didn't receive any mail in 3 of those days. I received 1 piece of meaningful mail--a refund check that I was expecting. The rest was junk.

The United States Post office was established in 1775. It was needed as an accurate communication between people and businesses--that is why it is owned by the Federal Government. However, in the past few decades, the post office has been losing billions of dollars each year. Yes, I said billions! Who pays for that? The federal government gives the money to the post office and we give that money to the federal government through our taxes. So WE are paying that.

My question is....do we still need the post office? It is not a unique question. People have been talking about this for a while--just like the time change (do we still need to have the time change?). But the old white men in government have a hard time giving up their traditions. They HATE change. I'm not a big fan of change either because it causes stress but sometimes you just need to pull the plug.

Now, I don't want to deprive anyone out of their livelihood. I don't want anyone losing their jobs. The post office employs around half a million people. But there are ways for this to work--both the change and eliminating the post office while keeping some jobs.

For instance, deliver less days. Again, the volume of mail has dropped drastically for the post office. They first eliminate Saturday deliveries. People hate working Saturdays anyway. After a time, then eliminate another day. And keep eliminating days. While this is going on, people may start retiring or getting other jobs. Then use attrition. Attrition is when people retire or leave and the company does not refill that position. Eventually, you will get a natural reduction in force. When it is finally time to eliminate the post office, the people who are left can get a severance package and become Amazon drivers or work for UPS (because their volume of mail and packages have gone up with the slow closing of the post office).

Another thing the post office can do is become private. The federal government stops funding the post office and "sells" it to another company. Maybe UPS will take over it or Fedex. Or another private company.

Would we miss the post office? As a person who got mail all her life, I would say no. Most mail is junk mail, if I get mail at all, and all the "meaningful" mail I get could get delivered another way. My refund check? The insurance company could have done an electronic direct deposit into my checking account.

At least my checking account would be good for something:)

Blog Website: https://www.lifelessonsfrommemaw.com/  

Email: LifeLessonsFromMemaw@gmail.com