5 Days a Week Mail Service Likely the Beginning of the End

I am tired of hearing year after year the US Postal Service planning to cut Saturday mail service. But this time there seems to be the momentum to actually make it happen, and the Democrats in D.C. have proven they can pass a bill without any Republicans voting for it.

I was watching a TV show recently about a restaurant that was closed more often than it was open. They brought in an expert in the restaurant industry to help out their struggling restaurant. The expert made the comment that if they are closed more often then they are open, then people will start believing the restaurant is closing or has closed down permanently.

Doing mail delivery 5 days instead of 6 doesn't sound that bad for a cut of services, but consider the following scenarios.

A High School student waiting to get an acceptance letter may now have to wait until Monday instead of Saturday leaving their acceptance into the college a mystery for a couple of more days.

A newspaper who does mail delivery only (which is the case in some parts of Washington State) will have to deliver their Saturday editions 2 days late or else do away with their Saturday editions. This could lead to more newspaper subscription cancellations as many people don't want to wait an extra 2 days for their Saturday newspaper.

People who want to send much needed items to a person overseas such as those who help protect our country will now have to wait another 2 days for delivery.

So the bottom line is this talk of 5 days a week mail needs to end now. This country still needs 6 days a week mail service. President Obama and Congress needs to start funding the Postal Service so we can debate "real" issues and not the ones like this that shouldn't be an issue.