Sun is setting on rural post offices

FREEPORT, Kan (Reuters) – Six days a week, the small American flag flutters in the shade of a cottonwood tree outside the post office in Freeport, Kansas, population 5.

The flag, which means the post office is open, may come down for good later this year because Freeport is among about 2,000 postal outlets eyed for closure by the United States Postal Service. The vast majority are in small towns, officials said.

"When you lose a post office, you lose a little history," said Carol Peterson, city treasurer and resident historian in Freeport. "We've been blessed with this post office for 126 years."

But the march of time is catching up with post offices in rural areas, where population declines have cut demand. Only eight people have a postal box in Freeport, another 23 have mail delivered, said Terry Ball, officer in charge. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110528/us_nm/us_postoffice_rural

I've seen many a small post office close up in my day.

Having a post office lends a sense of legitimacy to a community, even a tiny one.

when people converge serve as postal depots.

Where the Town Hall (offices open Monday evenings only), the Electric Department, the Police Department, and the Theater Company all share the same building.

The town's only car repair place is in the same building as a restaurant.

Oh, and the Town Library and a housing complex coexist in the same building.


I guess we know how to make use of available space here. :7

Or hardware stores.

We gave up on actual Post Office buildings in small towns long ago.

we have plenty of actual Post Offices in our small towns. Ours is still doing well in a village of less than 300 people, as are all the ones around me but two I can think of, which do share space with other businesses. The majority though in all of SE SK at least are still independent offices. (I ran ours as Postmaster for 12 years and got pretty familiar with them all in this area).

I didn't really notice when I lived in Ottawa, the real "innovation" is the privatized DMV in Alberta. I didn't think there could be lazier assholes in the world than those at the DMV in California but whatever surface they scrape the people who work at the privatized "Alberta Registries" off of has them beat by a mile.

Near 3 small towns (6000 or so). None of them have a post office. They have a section in the local Shopper's Drug Mart.

and nothing but a boondoggle.
People say, oh, it's a separate private entity, and all that blah blah.
But how do they make up for their 2 billion dollar shortage? Oh, the government gives it to them.
I get any and everything and do everything online, or from UPS or FedEx. Not the usps. All I get from the usps is unwanted spam, junk mail, all a waste of paper as I look at none of it.
There are better things they could do with that 2 billion. And I do not mean start more wars, or buy more flags to wave around.
dc

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1188719#1188879

It's post #11. (Links just to whole thread)

By earthside:

Trend Line of Decline

The United States Postal Service from the beginning of the republic to this moment has been an institution that has unified the nation; an essential service critical to creating an informed, engaged public.

The answer is the re-creation of the Post Office Department as a cabinet-level agency; it should never have been converted into a self-sustaining institution. Like national security spending, the post office is important to the functioning of our democracy and is worth the cost.

However, it this era of teabaggers and even too many Democratic politicians cow-towing to the "public-private partnership" mantra, the prospects for the USPS are not good.

It is a sign, in my opinion, of the slow but sure decline of the United States from the world's number one economic and cultural power into a 'banana republic' plutocracy, a low-wage nation with fewer and fewer affordable services for the working class.

When delivery days are reduced, when it costs a dollar or more to mail a wedding or birthday invitation, when regular folks are at the mercy of only private corporations for parcel post service ... then we will regret letting the USPS wither away.

However, one can see very clearly where this is headed: further privatization and yet another fee-based burden on middle and working class people.

the pathetic overpopulation we now see, how do you think I feel about weddings?
And can't birthday invitations be sent by email, free?
Mine seem to be nothing but online wishes for the last 5 years or so.
The Europeans seem able to grasp important parts of their past, such as the castles and great estates, and all, as do the British. But adapt new things, like fuel efficient cars. Small cars.
I think maybe it's an american idea, keep anachronistic outmoded things around, with no real concept of any real or important history.
In fact, isn't that the american definition of "history"? Anything from the past?
That's not the real definition.
dc

...governmental departments, churches, high schools......

All of these rely on the USPS to communicate with their communities.

completely online now.
dc

They're leaving behind those without resources or access.

I work in a postal distribution center. 99% of what is said about the USPS on this board is completely and totally untrue. I am in a position to know.

Very few DUers are qualified to speak to the health and functions, much less the actual activities, of the USPS. I happen to be one of the most qualified here.

Ask me anything. For example, I know for a certainty that most of the services and businesses I mentioned above still use the USPS for communication. I sort literally thousands of those communications every single day.

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were accepting only cash or checks (that's, uh, paper) because their power was out.

if everyone owned a computer.

I know a number of people who still do not own a computer, even in this day and age. It's far too expensive for some on fixed budgets. I know others who own one but cannot afford to pay for internet access at this time.

My daughter's school enrollment papers arrived in the mail, as did every other students? Why mail them? If they were sent home from school with the student less than half were returned.

USPS still serves an important function in the lives of the middle class and the working poor.

for many things. It is in my opinion like the public option.It keeps UPS and FedX honest re pricing. Perhaps I am of a certain age, but I would be aghast at sending out wedding invitations online instead of a paper invite.

:wtf:

We're married. We chose not to have children.

Why is it your business what ANYONE else does in life?

:eyes:

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love and happiness in a ceremony for their friends and family to witness? Why? I don't understand.

Marriage doesn't mean children, in case you haven't heard.

"david13 (1000+ posts) Sun May-29-11 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. In a grossly overpopulated world, I'm aghast at weddings. dc"

And I'm not the only one who caught it, so it must not be a fantasy. I've noticed a few others have also replied.

to do with the post office?
dc

along with the post office.

to the detriment of the kids.

invitations, would they? Therefore, skip the post office. Did you read any of the above. It sure don't seem like it.
dc

so I'll take it point by point:

"The post office has been obsolete for years, and nothing but a boondoggle."

Tell it to lawyers, courts, banks, retail outlets, and virtually anyone else who must send paper missives. Tell it to Netflix. Tell it to your county health department, every church, schools, universities, and all the people nationwide who do not have a computer or who do not have better than dialup internet access.

The USPS is the best value for the money there is. You simply cannot get a better deal for mailing a letter, period.

"But how do they make up for their 2 billion dollar shortage? Oh, the government gives it to them."

The USPS does not take as much as one thin dime of taxpayer money and is NOT being bailed out by Congress. Far from it; the USPS is the only business or governmental agency in the United States that is required to prefund retiree health benefits. This costs the USPS billions of dollars per year, the USPS has overpaid by tens of billions, and people like Issa believe the USPS doesn't deserve the money back.

"I get any and everything and do everything online, or from UPS or FedEx. Not the usps. All I get from the usps is unwanted spam, junk mail, all a waste of paper as I look at none of it."

And that unwanted mail pays for the things you will get in the mail but don't know you're going to get. It also pays for the things other people get that they need- prescriptions, disability checks, bill payments (again, made by people who don't have a computer or who don't have internet access). Just because you don't rely on the USPS- and you do, even if you don't know it- doesn't mean others don't. You need the USPS just as badly as everyone else.

"There are better things they could do with that 2 billion."

Yes- such as making up for the intentional shortfall caused by members of Congress who want to see the USPS privatized.

still enjoy mailing handwritten letters and receiving them.

I enjoy a cup of hot tea on a cold and rainy day. I love pretty stationery with matching envelopes. I love my pen that needs to be refilled (no disposable pens on letter writing day for me!). I love licking the stamp and affixing it to a neatly addressed envelope. And I love waiting for the storm to pass just to have the chance to walk down to the post office and mail my letter.

When everything zooms by at a break neck speed sitting down and actually mailing handwritten correspondence allows me the chance to relax. It's wonderful when it happens.

I wonder if some of these right wing meme spouting droids on DU thought they were posting on FR.

Tell it to lawyers, courts and banks. There are 3 right there that basically, do not need to use the post office any more. And don't.
It's all done on computer.
I know if I am going to get anything, anything in the 'mail' before I do, for one easy reason. It's almost all online.
So I really don't know where you been. Living in the past, I guess.
dc

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

The postal service got permission to increase its borrowing cap.

The postal service delivers for both FedEX and UPS. They don't go everywhere like the postal service does.

Without the $5.5 billion prepayment for retirees health benefits per year the numbers would be better.

The truth is the recession has hurt the USPS, just like it did UPS and FedEx,but they don't have to turn in any
surplus during good years to the general fund.

I just wish some would look into things a little deeper before spouting right wing propaganda like it was info.

I often suspect that the attacks on the USPS are largely due to the fact that they have a large minority employment,
pay decent wages and benefits, and probably largely vote Democratic. With the UAW's two tiered wage system there are
fewer unions holding the wage line. In fact the American Postal Workers Union agreed to a two tier system in the last
contract, but it is not permanent like the UAW one. That is the lower paid workers will be able to bid on regular
jobs.

So can I assume that anti USPS posters are anti-union? No, but it just shows how deep and wide the neocon
propaganda machine is and how widespread it is.

Aka the lifebread of the usps.
Take all that junk mail and ...
Oh, there I go again. Can't say that here.
And it may be that some people believe that once a governmental agency is created, it can never be ended. Even when it has long outlived it's useful life. Kind of like the fireman on a train.
But more importantly, you fail to realize that liberals, democrats, etc., can and should have economic sense. That's not just the bastion of the neo-cons. It sort of explains why the military industrial complex has become another giant unchecked and unaccounted for boondoggle. Because the liberals, the democrats, and just about everyone else in this country will give them any and everything they want in terms of not billions of dollars, but trillions. And when it comes to that, the neo-cons have no economic sense, either, do they? It's just one continuous pouring of money into bombs, bombers, tanks, guns, I suppose I could go on for hours. And it will only get bigger and bigger from now til the end of time, because you will go along with it, if your sacred cow is funded.
dc

who don't give a damn about the poor or those in rural areas. Both groups still rely heavily on the USPS.

I've lived in very rural areas and the post office is a "big deal". Internet, though available, was still expensive and usually a dial-up. My daughter (still a baby at the time) and I would drive in to town about twice a week, pick up our mail, and talk to the townsfolk. We mailed our bills and other correspondence and we found out all the gossip.

The post office in a very small town isn't just about the mail-it's still a social hub. And it's possibly one of the only places in town that actually employs. In a town of one hundred a place that hires two people is a big deal.

our country is in economically. I delivered mail for 35 years on a rural route and have witnessed first hand the difference in 'attitudes' from early on, (very nice place to work) vs. present day, (the complete opposite, unless you're in a unique PO). Things went down after the change in name from Post Office to Postal Service. *Thank You Tricky Dick*

July 1, 1971, during Tricky Dick's 1st term. I still have a bunch of first day covers marking the event with the USPS emblem stamp.

and think about rebuilding communities in them. Things like bringing manufacturaing plants to these areas and start encouraging people that are willing to move to these areas. I think enouraging small businesss to possibly relocate to these areas too.

I think that we are missing huge opportunities. I have thought about the fact that middle aged workers are not getting hired and these rurual areas could rebuilt with some older workers and some younger workers.

I say screw these huge manufacturing companies that don't want to hire American workers and want to outsource everything.

It's...weird. It's one of those things that you take for granted till it's gone. I mean, there's a post office in the next village, down the road (but damned if I can figure out when the hell they're open--it's rare), and another several miles to the north and another several miles to the east, but...it's like it's not the point. Feels like you've been robbed of an integral piece of your community. Hard to explain. :(