Archive: Opinions

In late November 2008, an SUV, driven by an elderly woman, unexpectedly crashed through the Lansing Post Office. Although there were customers waiting in line and a Postal Clerk behind the counter, no one was injured. The building suffered some damage to the front windows, frames, counters and the door, but structurally it was sound. Initial estimates from the Postmaster indicated that the repairs would be done in a reasonable time frame. That was the good news.

The bad news would follow. Construction began in a timely manner, and work appeared to be proceeding according to schedule. Yet, as many of us trudged to the main post office on Warren Road and asked about the reopening, we received little if any information. After a while, this patron simply stopped asking the clerk at the counter when or if the Lansing Post Office would reopen.

 

Delays and ambiguity seemed to be the norm. From time to time, I would drive by the newly reconstructed façade, park my car, and walk up to the large front windows. Like a child with his face pressed up against the glass showcase of a candy store, I would gaze in wonder at the refurbished interior of the Lansing Post Office. I would close my eyes and dream of the day when it would be reopened. But, like a poor orphan from a Charles Dickens' novel, I would walk away with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

As time passed, and December soon gave way to January, the inconvenience of trudging to the Main Post Office seemed like punishment from the Great Postal God. I felt a bit like Sisyphus, the terrible King of Corinth, who was condemned for all eternity to roll a marble block to the top of a hill only to have it plunge back down just as it reached the crest. With the dismal economic news that the U.S. Postal Service had reported losses in the billions of dollars, I thought the Lansing Post Office would be closed for all eternity.

 

February arrived. Puxatony Phil saw his shadow, and again, I hoped for another sign as well. The Great Postal God had mercy on the residents of Lansing and proclaimed that the post office be reopened. This past Monday, nearly 12 weeks after the unfortunate accident, our post office reopened. All of Lansing is rejoicing and in a much better mood.

 

Besides the inconvenience of driving those extra miles every weekday and waiting in line to receive the mail, there are other more important questions that need to be asked? What would have happened in a time of crisis? Would the Post Office have proceeded in the same manner? Would ambiguity and uncertainty be the same response to customers who pay a monthly fee for their boxes? I do not blame the hardworking Postal employees for this mess. I place the blame on the bureaucracy, inefficiency, and lax attitude of upper management that has caused the U.S. Postal Service to lose billions of dollars as customers search for faster, cheaper, and more reliable ways to get information and material where it needs to go.

 

Perhaps in the future, the U.S. Postal Service will be a bit more attentive to the needs of their customers. I hope there is a note in my box thanking me and others for our patience during this lengthy period of time. They might even extend a bit of gratitude to the extremely patient patrons and offer some compensation for those who rent boxes. Now that would be a novel idea-placing customer needs as a real priority, not something you charge for.

 

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