The Baby Boomer Renaissance: The Boomer Chronicles

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Boomer Chronicles

Dan the Early Retired Man: Mail Delivery is On Its Way Out

Posted: 04 Jan 2012 06:24 AM PST

My cousin Dan, who retired in 2009 after 37 years working for the U.S. Postal Service, sees the future of U.S. mail delivery, and it’s bleak:

Admit it, you went to your mailbox on the last two Mondays forgetting it was a holiday and you were disappointed that there was no mail. In fact, Americans just experienced the future of the U.S. Postal Service – five-day-a-week mail delivery.

We boomers grew up with the mail being our primary means of communication with family, businesses, and faraway friends. My mother's house had a mail slot in the front door. The snap of that spring-loaded door would have us running to see what had arrived in the mail. Technology has replaced that sound with an electronic beep or that silly AOL phrase, "You've got mail," but we still get excited.

First-class mail paid the bills for the U.S. Post Office. But now with mail volumes down to historic low levels, five-day delivery of the mail is inevitable. I attended a meeting with the Postmaster General in 2009 where he announced, "Personal communications using first-class mail is extinct." The word 'extinct' really bothered me.

Because of my 37-year relationship as a Postal Service employee, I still try to use the mail, but it is a losing battle. The familiar blue mailbox on every corner is disappearing and thousands of post offices are slated to close. Even my mortgage company notified me last month that it will no longer send a paper bill, assuming that if I have a mortgage, I must have a computer.

It will take me a while before I stop going to the mailbox on a Saturday, and I think I’ll miss it.