Remember those mail carriers that would walk on foot throughout the neighborhood? Or those that would drive the boxy, white trucks that bore the famous USPS logo?
Well, unfortunately, most of those things are now things of the past. In a sign of the times, the United States Postal Service announced this month that they may lay off 120,000 workers, 20 percent of their staff, as well as modify their benefits package and slow down their service.
That is a radical change from the postal system we grew up with, but this will be the new normal. The mail service is leaving us, and our generation is leading the charge that is pushing it out of business.
Think about how our parents’ lives differed from ours — they paid their bills and received bank statements via the mail, while we use the Internet to do both. Catalogues that sold clothes, shoes and other items have moved on line.
Our generation is the first to grow up, move out and completely forget about the postal service. We can forego checking the mail, but never our email; our parents’ mindset is the opposite.
The Washington Post reported the USPS lost $20 billion over the past four years and saw mail circulation dropped by a fifth. The slower service would impact the one-to-three-day guarantees; if the deadlines were moved back a day the agency would save $1.5 billion.
“If the Postal Service was a private sector business, it would have filed for bankruptcy and utilized the reorganization process to restructure its labor agreements to reflect the new financial reality,” read a report from the USPS.
Tough times just got even tougher, and it doesn’t look like it will get much better in the decades to come. Younger children probably view the mail system as archaic — why wait days for a letter when we can find out things instantaneously?
As a generation that grew up sending letters to Santa, receiving our ASU admission letters in thick envelopes and writing pen pals that lived in other states, we are afraid all of these things will go by the wayside as well.
“Snail mail” may just be on its way to the dustbin of history. Now, little kids send emails to Santa, high-school seniors often receive their college admission notices through the Internet and we can instantly let our friends know what we are up to with the click of a button.
Skype, Facebook and the other social media outlets are not making the post office’s job any easier. These means of communication offer features that the USPS would never be able to provide.
As social media expands and generations grow up without a visible mail system, staying current will remain a challenge for the USPS.
While layoffs mean fewer jobs and modifications to health care may result in higher premiums, technology won’t let us go back.
