a death in the family - the post office

The post office is something deemed so important by America's founders that it is mentioned in the constitution. Article I, Section B of the constitution "The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; . . . To establish Post Offices and post Roads . . ."

The Post Office is like an old friend, a member of the family as it were. Someone who could be relied upon to deliver gifts, checks, bills and other bad news, along with the joys of invitations and announcements, magazines, and a plethora of junk mail. The old motto of the post office delivering in rain, sleet or snow, has fallen by the wayside (at least in my neighborhood) due to worker's compensation for accidents in that weather, and dog attacks, and other safety issues, but the post office has slogged on, trying to keep up with changing technology and growing generations of people who don't write letters, who use only email and internet (and maybe a fax) to pay bills and communicate.

So comes the question, do we really need it anymore? My husband and I have a sick parlor game or really a driving game, as we travel we notice businesses closing or that should close - as we discuss whether you really need brick and mortar businesses for so many items or services. How many big box and other stores do we really need? Do we really need car dealerships or just a mall where we can see all the brands/models and test drive? Do we really need so many cleaners and nail salons? Maybe we need more farms and less stores? We discuss how when we travel through New Jersey so much open space lost to development - houses and townhouses, stores that are now sitting vacant. When I was young and we moved to the area I live in now, even though it was the suburbs, we had farms five minutes away, farm stands with fresh produce. Those farms existed until a few years ago, but have now all been plowed under for development. Now, we have to wait for the farmer's market on Fridays, or drive 30 minutes to a real farm. How sad is that.

Shouldn't we be building fewer homes, consolidating people in tighter spaces to use less fuel, use more mass transit, force people to walk and interact, and grow more food, have more places for windmills and solar panels, and have more open space to enjoy?

So, do we really need the post office? We fax, we email, we fedex or UPS, we buy our stamps at the Shop-rite or online. What do we get in the mail? A few bills from antiquated vendors who haven't yet moved their billing online. A few local newspapers that haven't yet mastered the web for delivering their service. A lot of junk mail. That's about it. We pay our bills from where ever we are in the world, read our news online (except the Sunday New York Times), even ready many magazines online.

Within 10 years, if not sooner, the post office will have to privatize via fedex, DHL, UPS, or another vendor and die. Once the population that still depends on it ages out, it will disappear,, a not so quiet death as the workers are laid-off and the real estate is sold and re-developed (possibly a fund-raiser for debt reduction?). But it is inevitable. Too bad, so sad? or not.