Notes of
Concern…
…Jackson Blair
Do They Have a Clue?
I have a business.
I would like you to be my client.
I have two possible ways to win your business. Ponder long
and hard as to which you would prefer.
I will deliver my product to your front door and I will
charge you nothing at all for my effort.
OR
You will need to come to my place of business to pick up my
product and I will charge you $140 per year for not having to bring it to you.
Tough choice is it not?
Even though you would like more time to think it over I am
afraid I must have an answer.
The United States Postal Service has been in business a very
long time, dating back to when bringing the mail to your little cabin in the
woods involved outrunning very angry indians and depending a great deal on the
health of your horse. It existed during the time when postmen pledged to
deliver your mail through sleet, rain, snow and so forth.
Of course today, a barking dog, slippery stoop, or downed
limbs in your yard could hold up that delivery for days.
Today the service is facing very serious financial crises.
The Post Office talks about cutting down on the number of days they will
deliver mail. The Feds are closing post offices in many places in our country.
They are facing horrific competition from the Internet as people become more
and more comfortable just pushing a little button titled: “Send.”
One could argue that someone in Washington at the Postal
Service wasn’t keeping up with trends or they wouldn’t be in such tough shape.
This massive operation used to be run by a “Postmaster General” who, more often
than not, was just a pal of the sitting president and didn’t have any special
skill at all. It was the one cabinet slot that always went to a political
operative and everyone knew it.
And yet it worked so much better.
How did it get this bad?
Well one thing I think most of us can agree on: the Postal
Service has some of the finest, most hardworking people of any business. And
many of these professionals have long worked as public servants. These folks
know their business and they know the people they are serving. Post Office
employees try to be helpful, friendly and kind. And I have witnessed a number
of times when doing that had to be very difficult indeed.
In the post office I frequent I have always had good
service.
Now many of these fine people must be worried about their
jobs.
So this year I am cutting back on my contact with the U.S.
Postal Service.
I continue to hope that good business practices and
principles might one day reign in Washington at the U.S. Postal Service
Executive Suite. I also hope they find a way to make a profit without turning
every post office into a gallery of gifts, pretty boxes, and wrapping
materials.
As they say: hope springs eternal.
I am not going to pay $140 for my small post office box. You
know, the one where I get dressed, get in my car, and make the trip to the post
office to pick up my mail.
Nope, I am going to stay in my pajamas, sit by the fire, and
let the post office sort my mail, load it into the truck, send a postman to my
door where he will hand me my mail and I get to keep $140 of my money.
Is anyone still confused as to why this federal approach to
business has not been very successful for the U.S. Postal Service?
And I may just stop in my local post office from time to
time to see the faces of old friends.
