The boss of the Post Office (Potter) is asking Congress for permission to deliver 5 days a week instead of 6.

I find it interesting that "the Cardinal", as the Washington Post calls him,of the Post Office committee refuses to consider cutting the service. Serrano the New York congressman argues that a possible three-day delay for Monday holidays (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) would be onerous, so he rejected the idea of out hand.

Think about it. Email is far quicker, more reliable (more rarely lost, though sometimes not portable across services), and cheaper. Email can be sent from home, office, or the library. There is a reason e-cards are popular. It's even possible to pay some bills electronically. What's the point of mail? It's great advantage is bulk. If you want to see goods to a friend, you put it in a box and send it on its way. Quite frankly, if I'm mailing a check for a bill, I wouldn't mind it taking a few extra days.

So to whom would an extra two days (at most) cause problems? If you receive checks in the mail from governmental programs, there might be an issue. Your tax rebate, social security check, or the like may come the slow way.

I believe the gain of saving money is worth the cost in lost service. Many businesses the post office delivers to are closed on the weekends anyways. Most of us would be happier knowing we won't be getting any bills over the weekend. The fact that the post office is struggling means that tough choices should be made. When businesses find their products aren't profitable enough, they cut costs. Yesterday on the tv news, I saw a report about how companies are decreasing the amount of product in their packages-- less peanut butter in a container, less cereal in the boxes, etc. Surely the Post Office should use similar sound business practices.

Just some random meditations that will likely have absolutely no impact. But I got it off my chest.

God bless.