As a young mother, my sons and I seldom watched Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, as we were on our way to day care, school and work when the program aired. But the more I learn about Fred Rogers, the more I appreciate what he did as he gently greeted children for thirty-one years. There was always a rhythm to his day, as he interacted with friends, including Mr. McFeely (David Newell), who delivered packages and mail to the neighborhood. Mr. McFeely sometimes sang, “That’s what you’ll get, that’s what you’ll get . . . a speedy speedy speedy speedy delivery.” While not the most creative of lyrics, it fit his company, Speedy Delivery Service.
For many years, the United States Postal Service has had an unofficial theme song of its own: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” I had no idea that these words are from The Persian Warsby Herodotus (500-449 B.C.), and are chiseled in stone above the entrance to the New York City Post Office, describing postal carriers who make sure that cards of celebration and sympathy, legal notices, advertisements and even the dreaded bills arrive in our mail boxes “no matter what.”
As an unofficial motto, it has served the United States Postal Service well. The USPS website notes, “In the more than two centuries since Benjamin Franklin was appointed our first Postmaster General in 1775, the Postal Service has grown and changed with America, boldly embracing new technologies to better serve a growing population.” But in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the USPS, just as it has on just about everything else in our world. The pandemic’s effect was compounded by some in government who seemingly wanted to see the venerable Postal Service fail. “The post office is a joke” was one derisive comment heard back in April.
By June 2020, a new Postmaster General (Louis DeJoy) began work, quickly introducing cost-cutting measures such as banning overtime and removing high-speed mail sorting machines from post offices, even banishing selected mail boxes from streets across the US. In August, DeJoy announced that twenty-three senior employees of the USPS had been reassigned or displaced (might that mean fired?). So much for institutional knowledge. Soon, mail began to be backlogged, and that backlog was exacerbated by millions of ballots cast through the mail, employee absences caused by COVID-19 infections, and an avalanche of packages ordered by the internet fingers of stir-crazy Americans, all wanting delivery in time for Christmas.
So how is it going now? Our Mr. McFeely shows up every day, snow, rain, heat and even gloom of night, and delivers our mail. But somewhere beyond his mail truck (and pay grade), there are problems. For example, we received a bill on February 1 for an essential service. The bill was printed and mailed on December 2 and due before Christmas. Oops. An inconvenience, yes, and I suppose I could set up on-line payments. However, I still receive bills where on-line payment isn’t an option, and I’m always afraid I’ll delete something important – such an easy thing to do.
Because I can make these choices, I am privileged. But I have neighbors who depend on the mail for bill-paying, among the 27% of adults age sixty-five and older who don’t use the internet, or the 15% of rural Americans who are off-line (Pew Research Center, 2019). Others don’t have a checking account, and purchase money orders to pay their bills by mail. Many people get their medication through the mail as well, sometimes required to do so by their insurance company, and need the USPS to deliver on time.
Months ago, history professor Phillip Rubio suggested that those pushing for radical changes at USPS were “playing a costly game of chicken.” If they succeed, he cautioned, “we’ll all be the poorer for it.” The year 2020 created a perfect storm to challenge the Postal Service. We’re hoping it gets sorted out sooner rather than later, so our nation’s postal workers can once again sing along with Mr. McFeely: “Speedy delivery . . . that’s what you’ll get!”
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