I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The postal service has two 5 billion dollar payments due; one next week and then again one in September for 5.6 billion to fund its pension plan (source: Yahoo Finance, July 31, 2012) and they have no money to make these payments. The world has changed as our methods of communication have changed. The type of mail delivered by the US Postal Service is often referred to as “snail mail” as it doesn’t need to move with the speed of light: bills, letters, greeting cards, catalogs, and all kind of advertisements. Now don’t get me wrong: I love to get letters and greeting cards from my family and friends, and I like to catalog shop in the comfort of my home too. Text messages like I luv u or cu soon just don’t cut it for me when it comes to personal communication.
The folks at Mid-Lakes Navigation (click here) may have found a way to save the US Postal Service and make some money beside. They operate a mail boat out of Skaneateles, NY which deliveries US mail to summer homes and cottages around Skaneateles Lake from July 2 till Sept 4. And you can take a lovely ride on this vintage 36 passenger mahogany boat for only $23 while viewing the beautiful homes around the lake. You can get to know the neighborhood, deliver the mail, and enjoy your lunch and Skaneateles Lake all in one trip! This video taken by the Syracuse newspaper (click here) reminded me that the mail boat trip is a must take trip in the Finger Lakes. We took that trip some eight years ago with our friends Bob and Peg and the video describes it exactly as I remembered it.
First of all, our mail doesn’t have to be home delivered 6 days a week. Three times are week ought to be enough: Monday for bills, Wednesday for letters, charity solicitations, and advertisements, and Fridays for magazines and catalogs to read on the weekend.
Secondly, our roads are full of delivery trucks each day like UPS and FedEx. I am sure that these folks would be happy to pick up some extra cash by delivering the US mail on their routes. We all have to keep up with the times, and the US Postal service is no exception. But please, no more “FOREVER” stamps. There just ain’t nothing forever!
