I still love getting mail. Real mail, the kind that comes in a stamped envelope, the kind that wraps you in old-fashioned anticipation as you rip it open.
It sounds goofy, but opening my mail box (like pulling my newspaper out of its sleeve each morning) remains one of my simplest pleasures.
But that doesn't mean I'm crying over the prospect of losing 24 post offices in Chicago. I also don't care that mail service may be reduced to five days a week.
The world has changed and the Postal Service better change with it -- or else snail mail could be gone for good.
In the past year, the Postal Service saw its largest drop in mail volume in its history. It's looking at a $7 billion deficit for this year.
The recession, it seems, has only accelerated an already major drop off in mail usage prompted by the shift to email.
The sooner the Postal Service comes to grips with reality, the better.
Maybe this shake up also will shake out the surly post office clerks we've all had the
misfortune of being served by (not all, mind you, just a select few).
Long live the Postal Service -- and long live life's simple pleasures.
This blog brought to you by the Sun-Times editorial board (click on names to read bios):
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