A typical United States Postal Service mailbox in Foster City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)You ever see that movie, Hollywood Shuffle? It's a great movie that analyzes and satirizes the stereotypes of black characters in film and television history, and it's very funny-- I recommend it highly if you haven't seen it.
The film revolves around Bobby, a struggling actor who keeps getting stuck with roles that reflect a negative stereotype of the African-American community.
He fantasizes about getting the kind of fully-developed parts he really wants, where he can show off his acting chops without subjecting himself to what is basically minstrelsy, and despite the fact that his family thinks he could do better, they support his dreams.
Bobby's grandmother reminds him, as he's preparing to audition for the part of a jive-talking street thug: "There's always work at the post office," which, when the movie was made in 1987, was true.
It's not so true today.
With more and more people choosing email over snail mail, the United States Postal Service isn't generating the type of funds it needs to operate and pay its employees.
If the USPS continues to lose revenue at the rate that it has been going, they're probably going to have to lay off a bunch of employees and the time it takes for mail to arrive will increase, and the hours the Post Offices are open will decrease.
A lot of people will say: who cares? I do all of my billing online, so this will not affect me.
I do all of my billing online, too, but the office I work in does not. We receive all of our important invoices and other materials through the mail. If service slows, it will slow us down.
On a personal level, I use snail mail all the time. I mail out zines and letters and postcards to friends on a regular basis, and I end up at the post office pretty frequently. Aside from the long lines around Christmas (because who loves waiting in line? no one), I have never had an unpleasant experience at a Post Office.
The one I used to go to in Philly, on Fourth street, was awesome. The lady who worked the desk had photos of Prince all over the place and always had good music playing. People love to complain about service in the Post Office, but I learned a while ago that a little bit of courtesy and common decency go a long way.
Anyway, the USPS has been running ads recently encouraging people to switch their billing methods to regular mail, because a letter has never been hacked. It's true (though one could argue that mail can be stolen, to which I would say you have a point, though social security numbers--which are not usually printed on statements-- are easier to hack online), but I'm not sure if that is a convincing enough argument to get Americans to send more mail. We're in the digital age now, and most people have smartphones. What do you think?
“We’re not trying to be luddites here, we’re not trying to say technology is bad, but the predictions of how fast customers would leave us were overstated,” said Joyce Carrier [what a perfect name for a postal employee!], USPS’s manager of advertising and media planning. “The switch has been much slower than originally anticipated.”
I am somewhat of a Luddite (I guess it comes with being a contrarian), and it does sadden me to think that post offices are going the way of appliance repair shops, paper books, and home telephones-- they exist, they're just not in high demand and thus harder to find. One day, when no other options are available, I'm sure I'll have to embrace the change of going fully digital, but until then I'm clinging to old school antiquities for as long as I can, the Postal Service included.
Conan pokes some fun at the Postal Service and their new "funny" ads here in this hilarious spoof. Peep it here:
Check me out at Yeah Write!
The film revolves around Bobby, a struggling actor who keeps getting stuck with roles that reflect a negative stereotype of the African-American community.
He fantasizes about getting the kind of fully-developed parts he really wants, where he can show off his acting chops without subjecting himself to what is basically minstrelsy, and despite the fact that his family thinks he could do better, they support his dreams.
Bobby's grandmother reminds him, as he's preparing to audition for the part of a jive-talking street thug: "There's always work at the post office," which, when the movie was made in 1987, was true.
It's not so true today.
With more and more people choosing email over snail mail, the United States Postal Service isn't generating the type of funds it needs to operate and pay its employees.
If the USPS continues to lose revenue at the rate that it has been going, they're probably going to have to lay off a bunch of employees and the time it takes for mail to arrive will increase, and the hours the Post Offices are open will decrease.
A lot of people will say: who cares? I do all of my billing online, so this will not affect me.
I do all of my billing online, too, but the office I work in does not. We receive all of our important invoices and other materials through the mail. If service slows, it will slow us down.
On a personal level, I use snail mail all the time. I mail out zines and letters and postcards to friends on a regular basis, and I end up at the post office pretty frequently. Aside from the long lines around Christmas (because who loves waiting in line? no one), I have never had an unpleasant experience at a Post Office.
The one I used to go to in Philly, on Fourth street, was awesome. The lady who worked the desk had photos of Prince all over the place and always had good music playing. People love to complain about service in the Post Office, but I learned a while ago that a little bit of courtesy and common decency go a long way.
Anyway, the USPS has been running ads recently encouraging people to switch their billing methods to regular mail, because a letter has never been hacked. It's true (though one could argue that mail can be stolen, to which I would say you have a point, though social security numbers--which are not usually printed on statements-- are easier to hack online), but I'm not sure if that is a convincing enough argument to get Americans to send more mail. We're in the digital age now, and most people have smartphones. What do you think?
“We’re not trying to be luddites here, we’re not trying to say technology is bad, but the predictions of how fast customers would leave us were overstated,” said Joyce Carrier [what a perfect name for a postal employee!], USPS’s manager of advertising and media planning. “The switch has been much slower than originally anticipated.”
I am somewhat of a Luddite (I guess it comes with being a contrarian), and it does sadden me to think that post offices are going the way of appliance repair shops, paper books, and home telephones-- they exist, they're just not in high demand and thus harder to find. One day, when no other options are available, I'm sure I'll have to embrace the change of going fully digital, but until then I'm clinging to old school antiquities for as long as I can, the Postal Service included.
Conan pokes some fun at the Postal Service and their new "funny" ads here in this hilarious spoof. Peep it here:
Check me out at Yeah Write!
1 comment:
I still believe in good old snail mail. Cards, thank you notes, letters to little kids, there are no electronic substitutes that achieve the same effect.
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