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| After returning from a recent trip out of the country, I found letters addressed to five (5) different persons in my accumulated stack of mail----So I delivered them all yesterday----- before the Super Bowl....... |
Former NBA Basketball great Karl Malone had a nickname. They called him "The Mailman" because he "delivered." Many residents out in Beulah have felt a lot like delivery persons as we get mail that belongs to others and we re-deliver it. We all want to be good neighbors--but why are we in a position where we have to be the "delivery" service for incorrectly delivered US Mail pieces?
I have received important looking bills destined for others, and I have brought such pieces of mail over to my neighbors directly.
But this sort of issue makes one naturally wonder--are other residents doing the same? Are important pieces of mail not getting to me? Or other citizens?
But over the last several years, lots of what I get is NOT my mail. Nope, it goes to other folks in my
neighborhood and sometimes in other subdivisions.
In my neighborhood of 77 houses--for the most part---we all get along and it is congenial.
The gentleman around the corner from me who's address starts with the same four numbers (but different street name) ----yeah, he and I constantly get each others' mail, and subsequently bring it over to one another.
On one recent day I went through a stack of mail that had accumulated as I was recently out of town.
5 pieces of mail were in the stack that were addressed to other residents.
Four were addressed to person(s) in the neighborhood, and one was in the Keystone subdivision about a mile down the road. That particular package had the same first four digits in their address as mine does--albeit with a different street name.
So on Sunday, yesterday, I pulled a Karl Malone and"delivered" the wrong mail directly to the front doors of the residents to whom the mail actually belonged. Except for one. I couldn't get into Keyston's locked gate. By sheer happenstance---- as I came back into my neighborhood from attempting to deliver the mail to Keystone-- I saw a USPS truck delivering on a Sunday to a neighbor in my subdivision. I flagged him down, explained the situation, and he took that package and said "I got you, I know that neighborhood and I'll take it by there."
Ironically, I had a conversation with our new Postmaster General of the Pensacola Area, Christina Walker, just last week. She has been here since April of 2021 but took over officially in October of
2021. It was a great conversation and she listed a number of items she is working on to insure better, more reliable delivery of the mail--to include a new supervisor of the Lillian Hwy branch of the post office that services Beulah, and the establishement of a permanent route and regular driver on a large part of Beulah's route--to include my neighborhood.
I told her about the boom out here in Beulah, and also about OLF 8 and the building about to happen there. I asked her about the possibility of a distribution hub and branch out here---to which she replied such decisions are made at multiple levels above her position within the organization. Nevertheless--I did forward her lots of information on the OLF-8 project, at her request, and I did attempt to sell her on the value of a facility out here near the interstate and the area of growth.
We will see what happens.
Meanwhile, I hope the deliveries and accuracy of them improves. We shouldn't have to depend on our neighbors to deliver our mail that we pay the USPS to deliver.
Put it back in yeour mailbox and write on it or use a post it note and say : "delivered to the wrong address" put it back in your mailbox and put your flag up.
ReplyDeleteIt makes the carrier redo it. Plus it is direct feedback.
You could take a pic arnd send it to the post master.
People need to take pride and do their own job correctly. No excuses.
In fact I've been picking up trash on the other side of the road. I think I'll take pics and send them in, so the people paid to do it pick it up.
It's like raising children and parenting. It may seem easier to just do it yourself and take up the slack but holding them accountable and making them do their job is better.
Unless you just want to visit neighbors and get your face out there.. and look good picking up OP's trash and cleaning OPs failures. I'm past that myself.
Sometimes a leader serves by holding people accountable.
Yes Anonymous the idea of just putting it back in the mailbox is something that can be done. But if it is important mail and I know the person to whom it is supposed to go, I don't mind walking it over to their house. I'd appreciate the same courtesy--particularly if something is time sensitive like a utility bill. I mean, there is no guarantee it gets re-delivered in timely fashion if you just write a note on it and dump it back in the blue drop box or have it picked up out of your own mailbox....meanwhile-the larger issue is this: why does this continue to be a chronic problem out here in Beulah? That's why I spoke to the postmaster and communicated my concern. And it was a good conversation and I do believe she will be looking at this matter with a solution as her objective.
ReplyDeleteThe famous "Mailman" who played for the NBA's Utah Jazz is spelled Karl (not Carl) Malone.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just a problem in Beulah, Commissioner Bergosh. It's a problem everywhere. One of the worst residual problems of Trump's election year reign of terror was the devastation DeJoy--a major stockholder in FedEx--wrought and enjoyed against his own USPS.
ReplyDelete[TLTR version of the below: Because our government is horribly broken on both sides of the aisle.]
If your carriers and your postal authorities aren't being honest with you about that, I would imagine it might be because they are understandably cautious speaking that truth around these parts. Those of us who recognized the dangerous assault on our mail service while it was ongoing continue to have pretty candid conversations with people in USPS about just how far Trump's regime got in their war against our national postal service. Couple that onslaught with carrier and staffing problems caused by covid, and we are lucky we haven't had even more disruptions. Disinformation tactics such as flat out lies about the problems with mail-in ballots have real-world effects, also.
Don't get me wrong--the USPS had its fair share of problems and bloated bureaucracy prior to Trump. Ripping out mailboxes in key voting neighborhoods all over the country wasn't much of an anecdote for that (and Biden's failure to get DeJoy out of there is one of the signal failures of his presidency), so thankfully congress has gotten serious on ways to fix it with the Postal Reform Act, which republicans will probably vote for, recognizing its necessity, and then howl about the spend:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3076
I got confused with Carl's Jr. Restaurant because I must have been thinking about their delicious Western Bacon Cheesburger and not how to spell a retired NBA player's name LOL. Anyway--I didn't realize the mistake until you caught it -- thanks for the catch! Karl Malone, Carl's Jr 10-4.
ReplyDeleteSo your carrier can't put the correct mail in at the correct address in 2022 and Pino for D2 say it's Trumps fault. Right.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just a USPS problem. (Although it's a big problem in my neighborhood too.) UPS often delivers my packages to my neighbors. My house number is on the curb, the house, and in two places on my mailbox; how do they continue to get it wrong?????
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 8:00 PM, that's right! Good for you. To recap:
ReplyDeleteIt's the ineptitude of the federal government in general over decades.
It's Trump's fault for appointing DeJoy to capitalize on the USPS already going to hell in a handbasket and purposely making it worse to try to assist Trump in his re-election.
It's Biden's fault for not having the fortitude to simply yank anybody he can who stands in the way of DeJoy's removal.
Why would UPS give a crap about delivering better than USPS? They'll get the contracts anyway.
And it ain't gonna get better any time soon:
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Your Mail Is Already Late. A New Post Office Proposal Could Mean Even More Delays
A congressional bailout of the USPS likely won't address slower service, price hikes and reduced post office hours.
"US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's controversial Delivery for America plan called for the removal of any sidewalk mailbox that got fewer than 25 stamped mail pieces per day."
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/your-mail-is-already-late-a-new-post-office-proposal-could-mean-even-more-delays/
Just realized that I should pull this portion out from the article for the TLTR folks.
ReplyDelete-------------------------
Concerns about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
The Postal Service board of governors, all selected by Trump, appointed Louis DeJoy postmaster general on May 6, 2020, making him the first nominee in two decades with no prior postal experience.
As a former deputy finance chair for the Republican National Committee and local finance chair for the 2020 Republican National Convention, DeJoy has close ties to the GOP and Trump.
According to Federal Election Commission records, DeJoy donated $1.2 million to Trump's 2020 presidential campaign and millions more to Republican candidates and organizations.
Over the past seven years, the Postal Service has paid out about $286 million worth of contracts to XPO Logistics, where DeJoy was an executive, The New York Times reported.
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The above are facts. Not opinions, but facts.
I would think that anyone in the Panhandle, of whatever party, would be *very* attuned to the horrible material results on the lives of regular citizens from politically stacked regulatory boards, and the dysfunction and corruption that stems from them.
The postal Board of Governors shilling for DeJoy is not unlike the Florida Public Service commission shilling for DeSantis, who could replace all 5 of them with the flick of his wrist if he didn't want to upset his network of special interest.
The situation with DeJoy and the Postal Governors is even more ridiculous, however, because DeSantis is the veritable dictator now of the State of Florida...the voters have enshrined him as much by returning only politicians who lick his boots. So there really isn't anything to keep DeSantis from being as corrupt as the voters will continue to ask him to be.
Biden, however, recognizes that the Postal Governors stand in the way of fixing the post office. He could remove them, but he continues to inhabit a different space and time in which he really thinks that any of the old rules of decorum apply, when we're fighting to keep our democracy--and the institutions that made it possible to begin with.
So, what do people expect. The Florida Public Service Commission is a cesspool of corruption, and people will lose their kids as a result of not being able to keep their power on as a result. The Postal Governors are a cesspool of corruption, and our mail is in the chaos engendered by aiding and abetting DeJoy as a result.
It's not rocket science: this is what it looks like when a nation state gets well down the path of succumbing to oligarchic corruption. History has seen this countless times before, although there is a particular sadness to seeing the greatest country in the history of the world crumbling from the actions of those hellbent on undoing it.
No not interested about GOP rantings.
ReplyDeleteWe gave our carrier a Christmas card and know her name and chat and smile and she never makes a mistake.
We tried to give her a bonus tip but she refused.
She rings our doorbell and waits for us to make sure we get the packages. We exchange smiles and ask "How's your Momma and em?", chat about the weather. Life is great and 😍 beautiful.
I did pick up the trash across the street one more time myself. It hurt my back but I still managed. Maybe someone saw me struggling in the rain and will stop throwing it out their car windows.
Blessed are the healers of the earth.