The Dodo bird and the USPS. What do they have in common? As far as the future is concerned, they're both extinct. As the electronic age continues to grow, multiply and make once very menial-oriented tasks as easy as click of a button from your smartphone or your 2.5-pound laptop, the United States Post Office continues to languish in its plane-and-carriage mentality. As a result, it loses billions of dollars per year. Even after slashing its budget by $9 billion in 2010, the Post Master General told a congressional subcommittee that, "despite taking aggressive steps to reduce costs, the U.S. Postal Service will not survive as a self-financing entity [or at all] without significant changes to current law." In fact, testifying before the Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy on Oversight and Government Reform, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe pointed out that in spite of cutting costs, it lost a staggering $8.5 billion in 2010 and is projecting to be in the red this year by $6.4 billion. Conceding that some of these losses can be attributed to Americans’ changing modes of communication.
Well, I can attest to that fact because today one of our summer interns came into my office and asked where the address label on an envelope should go. "Is it here?" as he pointed to the top right corner. I looked at him dumbfounded. Granted I quickly caught myself and corrected him but I think my mouth was still gaping as he returned to his cubicle. Apparently "changing mode of communication" means not knowing how to do other, more "archaic" forms of communication.
So, along with smoke signals, Morse Code, telegraph, the Pony Express, the Railroad Express, the slow boat to China, stage coach, and perhaps a Dodo bird (Madagascar's form of the Pony Express?) please add FedEx trucks and planes. Because despite their continued inherent usefulness (in my opinion), the rising generation will default on their usage. I guess when I'm a granny I won't be getting any gifts or birthday cards from the kiddies!
2 comments:
I read this on FB yesterday, and at first, I was dumbfounded (pun intended). But then, I realized.... unless his parents made him send thank-you cards growing up (and we know how rare that sadly is these days)....and then again, made him address them himself (again, not likely) WHY would he need to know this? All mail I tend to send is thrown in an "outbox" basket at work. I of course, still write real letters every once and a while, but the organic way we grew up with choosing stationary, cards, envelopes, stamps, ink color, stickers (ok, I still love stickers)....is a lost art. It just doesn't happen anymore. Sadness...but I get it.
Stop......
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