Althouse: Who gives a damn about Saturday mail delivery?

January 28, 2009

Who gives a damn about Saturday mail delivery?

Really, why the handwringing over this? Of all the problems...

36 comments:

Fred4Pres said...: The only time I ever see my mailman is on Saturday. He waives. I waive. I go back to raking or mowing the grass.; 1/28/09, 8:59 PM
Hunter McDaniel said...: We Netflix subscribers will be mighty unhappy if this goes through.; 1/28/09, 9:02 PM
Michael Haz said...: What are you waiving? Is your mailbox in a dangerous location? Is the mailman prone to driving across your lawn?; 1/28/09, 9:06 PM
Unknown said...: The article says they wouldn't necessarily cut Saturday, but probably the lightest mail day of the year, which it says is Tuesday.

Fine with me. I'm sure the post office uses a lot of gasoline. Cutting that by about 15% seems like a good idea.; 1/28/09, 9:08 PM
traditionalguy said...: This will mean my bills and mail order catalogues will all show up on monday. What a way to start the week. It's Bush's fault again. How's that for griping?; 1/28/09, 9:10 PM
Anonymous said...: I like Saturday delivery, makes me feel like a person instead of a business. It's slow, civilized.

They have been trying to ditch Saturday for years. No to 5-day!; 1/28/09, 9:16 PM
al said...: which it says is Tuesday.

Tuesday is new movie day from Netflix. I'd rather lose Saturday. Not that it matters as the Post Office will find a way to waste any money saved.; 1/28/09, 9:16 PM
TitusPuttinOnTheRitz said...: My parents and many of the people in their cute neighborhood. My dad actually watches for the mail woman every day. He actually greets her to pick up his mail. Many of the retirees in their neighborhood pick up their mail all at that same time. I know very Leave It To Beaver.

Me, personally, I don't give a shit.; 1/28/09, 9:19 PM
Gary Kirk said...: I know of some who would give a damn. I think you would be surprised of how much that walk to the mailbox means to many elderly folks, and I would imagine quite a few non-elderly who are separated from society by some form or another. Even a bill or "junk" mail lets them feel that they are acknowledged by an increasingly impersonal society. They will be the ones doing the private handwringing.; 1/28/09, 9:21 PM
paul a'barge said...: I vote for keeping Saturday and dumping Monday... kind of like barber shops.; 1/28/09, 9:26 PM
Curtiss said...: After I collect the mail from my box at end of the driveway, I stop off at the garbage can to toss that day's collection of useless junk mail.

I guess raising postage rates on the useless and unsolicited mail we all receive every day (and toss in the garbage) isn't a possibility at the U.S. Postal Service.; 1/28/09, 9:29 PM
traditionalguy said...: Do we need crisis counselors to give them all grief therapy? These house-bound hermits have already lost their older TVs. Now they will have no Netflix on Saturday. Oh the horror of life! The greatest human ability is the ability to adapt to new challenges. They are human, aren't they.; 1/28/09, 9:30 PM
TitusPuttinOnTheRitz said...: My mailman is hot.

I would do him.

He actually looks good in his little mailman shorts.; 1/28/09, 9:31 PM
TitusPuttinOnTheRitz said...: The UPS guy that delivers to my building is hot too.

I would do him as well.

The fedex guy is not hot though. I would not do the fedex guy.; 1/28/09, 9:33 PM
TitusPuttinOnTheRitz said...: Sexually, I prefer blue collar types that are uneducated, make less money than me, are somewhat dumb and live in New Jersey or Queens. But are hot, hot is the most important quality.

What I do not like sexually is guys like me. White, live in the city, have a decent job and have an education. Too much competition.; 1/28/09, 9:35 PM
TitusPuttinOnTheRitz said...: Long Island produces some hotties too. I enjoy doing Long Island Hog.; 1/28/09, 9:36 PM
traditionalguy said...: Titus... what does hitting on the maleman have to do with mailmen? Oh never mind. It's better than griping about what's not in the malebox.; 1/28/09, 9:44 PM
Laura said...: Um, those of us who receive a lot of mail and enjoy it care about Saturday delivery...there are many different types of postal customers and you might be surprised to find that many of them do care. I receive letters (real mail!), magazines, movies, and most importantly checks from my clients in the mail and would hate to see it go down to five days per week.

Not to mention that cutting back to five delivery days means it will be almost impossible to receive two Netflix movies per week. :) (No, I don't watch two per week myself, but my family of six spread the choices around...)

I wonder if this could force the USPS to give up its monopoly and let a private company handle mail? If the USPS refuses to deliver one day a week (and I bet that would be just the tip of the iceberg), I bet another company would love the business.

Best wishes,
Laura; 1/28/09, 9:49 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: If I was Obama, I would tell this postmaster to STFU. We don't need more news of layoffs!

BTW, the article quotes two studies that ending Saturday delivery would not even save enough to cover the current $6 Billion deficit.

Obama perhaps could nationalize Fedex or UPS and fold it into the Post Office:)

I solved a problem for you Mr. President. You are very welcome.; 1/28/09, 10:18 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Heck, I could deal with mail coming just three times a week. And yeah, raise the rate on that junk mail.; 1/28/09, 11:56 PM
Beth said...: Download your Netflix! No waiting. I do it via Tivo, but you can do it on your computer, too, and you can watch on your TV via a cable.; 1/29/09, 12:31 AM
Steven said...: On July 1, 1885, the postage rate for a 1 oz. letter was 2 cents. Inflation-adjusted, that's $0.47 today . . . but a hundred and twenty years of improved technology should have made the mail more efficient. After all, general transportation costs have dropped (adjusted for inflation), so the hauling is cheaper. Mail sorting is much less labor-intensive with modern machines, zip codes, and the like.

On top of all that, we have only 43% of the number of deliveries a week as we did in 1885, so we should have a huge savings in the number of delivery personnel necessary per mailbox.

So, how can the post office be anything but flush with cash at $0.42/letter?; 1/29/09, 12:41 AM
Zachary Sire said...: Abolish the postal service and go back to the pony express. Seriously, when was the last time you mailed something? Me...it's been years. No more post office is good for the environment and will reduce shooting sprees, maced dogs and, most importantly, men in shorts.; 1/29/09, 1:27 AM
rhhardin said...: Apparently the plan where they move mail electronically - you just pick a printout up at your local post office - did not work out.; 1/29/09, 2:50 AM
Moose said...: This is the beginning of the slide back into the 70's. They had a good article in the Times pointing out the New Yorkers aren't worrried about the depression, they're worried about returning to how things were in the 70's, when services and infrastructure were at an absolute nadir.

What we're going to see are alot of unemployed people needing services, severely reduced state and local services (offices closed, nobody answering the phone, "where the hell is my tax refund?"), a general degeneration of infrastructure and general discontent.

I am of the age where I remember the "gummint cheese" they gave out to to the poor to save money and help the dairy farmers.

We're going to wind back up there soon if the economy doens't crawl out from under this rock. And printing all the money in the world is not going to help.

I can't wait for the hyper inflation, can you?; 1/29/09, 6:54 AM
KCFleming said...: In good times and bad, the nationalized postal service and Amtrak cannot seem to get by without repeated rescue.

I wonder what will happen when banks and health care are also nationalized; will the same thing occur, but on a much larger scale?
Naaaaaaaaah.

And who gives a damn about Saturday banking or emergency room care?; 1/29/09, 6:54 AM
Shanna said...: So, how can the post office be anything but flush with cash at $0.42/letter?

People who work at the post office get paid ridiculously well for delivering mail.; 1/29/09, 7:22 AM
The Dude said...: Fred4Pres said...
The only time I ever see my mailman is on Saturday. He waives. I waive.

And now he will waive every Saturday.; 1/29/09, 7:28 AM
MadisonMan said...: Why not cut Wednesday delivery? Saturday is the only day many people see the Mailman. Why cut out that interaction?

Businesses will scream, and people too, but everyone will adapt. Americans are good at that.; 1/29/09, 7:34 AM
KCFleming said...: but everyone will adapt

Amazing how the mail was able to be delivered in 1898, but now it's too hard. How'd that happen?; 1/29/09, 7:38 AM
Leland said...: I check my US postal mail about once a month (because we have to have a neighborhood mail box location). Except for the holidays and occassional purchases, I get nothing via US mail but advertisements.

Not only will I not miss Saturday delivery. I wouldn't miss the USPS.; 1/29/09, 8:06 AM
bearbee said...: I solved a problem for you Mr. President. You are very welcome.

How would you like a Mail Czar gig?

If not Saturday then cut out Monday delivery. It gives mailmen and dogs 2 consecutive days of rest.; 1/29/09, 8:37 AM
Original Mike said...: Dump Saturday, fime. But Tuesday? Mailmen will get Sunday and Tuesday off? They're going to love that (not).

As Peter suggested; MWF would be fine.; 1/29/09, 9:26 AM
Gil said...: It's time to end the USPS monopoly on first class mail delivery.

I don't think it ever made sense, but it certainly doesn't now.; 1/29/09, 1:42 PM
c5ron7 said...: Why is everyone here B****ing anyway? You ALL use Email, #1 Killer to 1st class mail, willing to bet 50% of you use Direct Deposit, #2 Killer of 1st class mail! The Post Office does NOT make money on 1st Class Mail, they make all their money on "Bulk Mail" or, if you didn't understand THAT, "JUNK MAIL"!!! We all want to make OUR lives easier, but when it comes time to figure out WHO killed the messenger, you find out it is you & I!!! As far as Outsourcing our mail, we already gave Fed-Ex & UPS all our Packages, so the Post Office don't do packages anymore either, no money there!!! Who fault is that now, we all complain about a 1 cent raise on 1st class mail, yet we will buy a 32 pack of beer @ God knows what and if that goes up a $1.00, we don't say a word! We are our own worse enemy! We put GM, Ford and MOPAR out of work and buy foreign cars that ARE inferior to our own, pay thousands more for a Prious, that ugly little cracker box that looks like IF it did do 50 MPH we could get Killed in it! If we didn't have anything to complain about, what would we do? God help us!!! ;); 2/1/09, 3:35 PM
c5ron7 said...: To Laura; Maybe that was ME delivering YOUR MAIL!? :) I have wicked cute legs and look great (or so I've been told) from the rear! ;) Washed-up Mailman; 2/1/09, 3:51 PM