Salute to the Postal Service

I’ve seen several mean-spirited editorial cartoons in recent weeks depicting the ineptitude of the U.S. Postal Service, which continues to lose billions a year. There is much moaning about the penny increase in the price of postage stamp that took effect on Sunday. That will do little to whittle the postal deficit.

Granted, post office honchos have been slow to react to technological changes that threaten its very existence. Much the same way the Internet has devastated the magazine industry, many people — especially young people — see the Postal Service as irrelevant. They don’t write letters. They don’t pay bills by snail mail. Even invitations are sent online these days.

And certainly the Postal Service has responded with glacial speed in plans to cut costs. Thousands of small post offices should have been closed years ago. Saturday mail service can’t be considered sacrosanct when viability is being considered.

But much of the criticism directed toward the Postal Service is unwarranted. Sure, I mistakenly receive a neighbor’s letter once in a great while. And on rare occasions it has taken longer than a week for a paycheck sent to me from neighboring Illinois to reach me in Missouri.

Yet, the Postal Service is reliable nearly all the time. Even on those rare days it’s too dangerous to travel to work, usually a vehicle pulls up to my mailbox delivering printed material. I can count on one hand the number of times that a bill, letter or package destined for my address or a payment, card or box from my house has been lost. The big benefit of mailing a letter or a bill is the low cost. There is no better way to get an envelope anywhere in the country fairly fast for 45 cents. It’s a veritable bargain.

Of course the Postal Service really may become important if something drastic happens such as dropping delivery to three times a week. That is a proposal on the table. What keeps it in business now is the timely delivery of magazines, newspapers, local advertisements, catalogs and the dreaded junk mail. If the Post Office tumbles, other industries may teeter on the brink as well.