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    No Saturday Mail Means Less Paper in the Wastebasket, Wake Up Call for Employees

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    COMMENTARY | This morning's headline from the Chicago Tribune reads "White House plan to save postal jobs would end Saturday delivery." It's no secret snail mail is approaching extinction. For most people, no Saturday delivery means one thing: less paper in the wastebasket. The mail these days contains two things, bills and ads.

    Neither is anything to look forward to on your day off. Dear postal service employees: The time to job hunt is now. Putting it off won't do your resume any favors. You are employed by a dysfunctional dinosaur. Get out while you can.

    The mail used to be something to look forward to. There were letters from loved ones, packages, cards and free samples. Of course, there was the mother of all mail deliveries, that yearly Sears catalog. We even called it the dream book, or wish book. Does Sears still put out a mail-order catalog? If they do, I wouldn't know. Haven't seen one in years. Packages generally come by alternate, more economical carriers. Letters have been taken over by email. So have cards, for that matter.

    Mail delivery has gone from happy interlude to unwelcome interruption. It's just one more thing to deal with. It heralds the arrival of bills we can't afford to pay and junk we never asked for in the first place. In fact, we hate mail so much, there's even a way to request less of it. Do we really need snail mail, or are we just putting off the inevitable? Is there anything the U.S. Postal Service does that isn't done better and faster by someone else?

    Several years from now, we will inevitably wake up to a different headline: "U.S. Postal Service closes doors, millions unemployed, job competition fierce." Some branches are already on the chopping block. Wake up, postal workers: The time to job hunt is now.

    Don't put it off until you have millions of laid-off workers to compete with. Make your move before someone makes it for you. Snail mail has been reduced to a pile of paper in the wastebasket, right along with the phone book and the daily news. Don't let your career suffer the same fate.

     

    59 comments

    • A Yahoo! User  •  8 mths ago
      The postal service is there to provide a low cost ways for all americans to pay their bills, communicate with others, and receive mail. If you have absolutely no money someone is still going to stop by your house/ po box and deliver mail to you at no charge. Internet is $30 per month, a cheap computer is $300-$500 dollars, and a cell phone is minimum of $40 per month. The fees charged by paying bills online or by phone can be from $2-$12. I am thankful that I can pay my bills, send Christmas cards, and communicate with family for 44 cents a letter. Futhermore I love looking at magazines. It irritates me that some person with his Iphone and $100 a month contract to go with it feels it necessary to preach to the nation on how things should be whether we can as individuals can afford it or not.
      • John B 8 mths ago
        Don't get your panties in a bind! It's only one less day.......
    • Jeff  •  8 mths ago
      Ignorant assumptions are the way ignorant people in the media manipulate the public. (In this statement from this article: "For most people, no Saturday delivery means one thing: less paper in the wastebasket." -- Though it may sound true because we all throw away paperwork when it is no longer need, however to assume less mail beacause of Saturday closures is quite a reach! The mail not delivered will simply be delivered on the next mailing day. Not less mail just moved to a different day of delivery!
      • Sam 8 mths ago
        Exactly!!!
      • Missy B 8 mths ago
        Same thing I thought...its not like we will get less mail...doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that!! If anything it means Monday's mail will be double as much to go through!
    • Stevo  •  8 mths ago
      Idiocy at its finest...the author of this article is dumber than a sack of catalogues...

      There will still be as much junk mail to throw away as before...you'll just have more on Monday and none on Saturday...

      Duh...
    • RichardM  •  8 mths ago
      "Jaipi is owner of Sun Drenched Soaps (a cruelty free soap company). She specializes in old fashioned natural home remedies, natural beauty and health care, green living, gardening, relationships and parenting". I see nothing in her resume that she has worked a single day in the USPS to qualify her to make such asinine comments. If she ships her soaps anyother way than USPS she is not much of a business person, because USPS ships packages cheaper than anyone else (isn't profit the bottom line?). Does she email her mother a Mother's Day card? That's real loving ! If her son was in Afganistan would she text him "Happy Birthday"? Now that would be "good parenting". I never even heard of this woman before or her soap business. Guess I missed her ads in the mail. Personally, I think this woman needs to think about what she is saying very carefully before putting her thoughts into print for others to see.
      • Flareside 8 mths ago
        From the purple bar above: "Share your unique perspective with an audience of millions (and earn money doing it)."

        In other words, she ain't cutting it in the soap business and she is having to supplement her income posting drivel.
      • Flareside 8 mths ago
        ... and from the picture at the link, her "natural beauty" products don't show much promise either.
    • Dianne  •  8 mths ago
      You see that Fed Ex, and UPS fees are higher, they don't go to cabin or back house deep in the woods, glad you don't speak for all because I and lots of business exist and look forward to saturday mail.
    • Duke  •  8 mths ago
      What about my netflix movies? No Saturday delivery makes Redbox look better.
    • Sponge Bob  •  8 mths ago
      Don't worry, your saturday junk, bills, etc will held until monday, you will get double.
    • Penny  •  8 mths ago
      USPS is cheaper than FedEx or UPS for mailing a package. That's a fact!! As long as you have a job writing these stupid articles, what do you care? Not everyone owns a computer or pays bills on the internet. One of these days someone will steal your banking info off of your computer and you will understand what manure just came out of your mind.
    • Cliff  •  8 mths ago
      "Don't let your career suffer the same fate."

      LOL!

      Exactly WHAT "career" can these slugs lay claim to? Acting like they're doing you a favor by doing their job at the counter? Walking just a bit faster than glacial ice moves? Actually delivering mail to the CORRECT mailbox (instead of one a couple of blocks away and three streets over)? Being way, WAY overpaid? Having a benefits package that rivals ANYTHING in the free world?

      The Post Office always has, and probably will be until the doors slam shut, been far, far too overpriced for what we get as consumers.

      And, sad to say, it was mostly Affirmative Action that killed it.
      • Jessica 8 mths ago
        Until you have done the job day in and day out you have no idea what it is like. Im sure on a daily bases you never make any mistakes. Your one of those big talkers that cant back up #$%$ Over paid, maybe, but there are THOUSANDS of other jobs where people are over paid. Benefits to good to be true? Not at all. But if they are better then what you have then obviously you will have a problem with it. Everything in America is over priced compared to the service or product you get, so get over it.
    • GOP2012  •  8 mths ago
      No Nativity Scene This YearThis just in, hot off the presses. After a lengthy court battle and millions of dollars spent lobbying, the Supreme Court has ruled that there will not be a Nativity Scene in the United States capital this Christmas season. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't for any religious reason. Congress simply has not been able to find three wise men and a virgin at the Nation's capitol. There was no problem, however, finding enough #$%$ to fill the stable.
    • copebyrd  •  8 mths ago
      Since the USA has a large amount of people in prison and jails all over the country unless something changes the Post Office isn't going to go away. I don't think the inmates have computer access for e-mail. Lets not even discuss the ones that are locked up for cyber crimes.
    • Rodeo Mom  •  8 mths ago
      We don't need Saturday delivery but there are many people that still need snail mail
    • Bill  •  8 mths ago
      What about important checks needed for one's survival?
    • Old Boy George  •  8 mths ago
      Well, a leaner and more efficient postal service that didn't fill my house with junk mail would be a very welcome thing. Hope it happens.......
    • Publius Americanus  •  8 mths ago
      The Chicago Tribune must hate unions, the working man and the middle class ... " Is there anything the U.S. Postal Service does that isn't done better and faster by someone else? "
      In other words ... done by a FOREIGN COMPANY LESS EXPENSIVELY by PAYING MINIMUM WAGE. All said from a NEWSPAPER that SUPPORTS BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA ... Now we know what OBAMA thinks of UNIONS AND THE WORKING CLASS.
    • jake  •  8 mths ago
      I guess I'm in the minority here because I like getting mail, and it doesn't matter whether it's Monday or Saturday, I like getting mail. I like my mailman too, he does a great job.
    • RALPH  •  8 mths ago
      What's a Jaipi Sixbear? I think we all know what else can go into the wastebasket!!!
    • Dataman  •  8 mths ago
      I heard that the only reason the USPS is in TROUBLE is that a Republican bill passed several years ago requires the USPS to amortize its projected costs for the next 75 years over the next TEN. Is this a ruse to cause the closing of the USPS so that their buddies in the other delivery companies can get ALL the biz and jack their rates sky-high? Gotta wonder.
    • corndog  •  8 mths ago
      Why do Fed-Ex and UPS drop ship parcels through the USPS if they can do it so cheap? The person that wrote this is a dolt. The USPS might not play the role it once did, but it's still a necessary service at a low cost.
    • Incredulous  •  8 mths ago
      This is a ridiculous commentary/article. Not every one pays bills online. Some people actually DO still write letters [I'm one of them]. People send greeting cards for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. People still send wedding invitations and graduation announcements via mail -- and Aunt Martha sends money in a nice card occasionally. And the USPS is cheaper than UPS or FedEx for shipping packages. I could go on . . .
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