The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an enormous federal agency. It employs almost 500,000 people, processed 155.4 billion pieces — exactly what that represents is not specified — had $67.8 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2014, and lost almost $6 billion. That’s the big picture, gleaned from an online USPS fact sheet.
Now for the small picture. With some regularity, The Times receives telephone calls and emails from patrons of the Edgartown Post Office, asking that we report on the poor service they receive.
Last week, a woman called and said she waited almost one half-hour in line expecting to pick up a package that should have been there, but she was told when she finally made it to the window that the package could not be found. The woman said she is not alone in this, and that postal patrons regularly experience long waits in line only to be told the package they expected cannot be found.
One Edgartown woman now does her mailing at the West Tisbury Post Office, we are told, rather than wait. All anecdotal, but the anecdotes certainly have added up.
Local postmasters and employees are not allowed to speak to the press, so the details of all the complaints we hear cannot be verified, but judging by the frequency of complaints, comments on Island social media sites about package mixups, and conversations Times reporter Monica Busch had with patrons outside the lobby, it certainly seems there is something amiss in Edgartown.
The nearest we can gather is that they are short of help. That information comes from a police report.
On Sunday, apparently in recognition of the significant backlog, the Edgartown postmaster hosted a package-only pickup day. The Sabbath effort intended to ease tensions and reduce piles in the mailroom was not entirely successful. One patron became so angry when a postal employee refused to look for her three packages addressed to general delivery that she called police to report stolen property.
“I was informed by the Post Office,” Officer Nicholas Phelps wrote in his report, “that they are currently short-staffed (three employees not working for medical/administrative leave reasons), and that they have been trying to catch up with package delivery.”
A postal employee who was not identified told Officer Phelps that post office boxholders are served first “because they are paying customers. General delivery is handled after that, and is done for free as a courtesy by the Edgartown Post Office.”
What kind of policy is that? The sender pays the postage with the expectation that the package will be delivered, not as a courtesy, but as a paid service.
Our Island post offices are no more places to only pick up and drop off mail than our libraries are places just to read books. The post office, whether in Chilmark, West Tisbury, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, or Edgartown, is a social hub, a gathering place where, if only momentarily, we greet friends, pass conversation, and observe the life of our community.
Years ago, a letter poorly addressed to an Island resident always found its intended recipient, because more often than not, somebody in the post office knew him or her. Many Islanders rely on post office boxes rather than streetside mailboxes. Once upon a time, letters addressed to the street address of an individual who only had a post office box would end up in the correct mail slot. A Post Office policy change did away with that neighborly consideration.
Further complicating our Island lives, goods we order online with the expectation that UPS or FedEx will deliver the package to our door may now be redirected as part of a corporate arrangement to the post office, which, for some harebrained reason that defies all marketing logic for an enterprise losing billions, sends the package back if the recipient is a post office boxholder and he or she only provided a street address.
So the question remains, what is going on at the Edgartown Post Office? Island customers might be a little more understanding were they to receive some straight explanations from postal officials. They certainly have been patient.
A postal spokesman told reporter Monica Busch that it is a staffing issue that is now being addressed. He said there have not been an unusual number of complaints.
It is important to bear in mind that the men and women who work in our post offices are our neighbors and friends. They are not responsible for the postal policies and business practices that so frustrate us. In most cases, they make the extra effort that has always defined the personal service we have come to expect in snow, rain, sleet, or gloom, and on sunny days.
School is open
Island schools open on Tuesday. In a preview of the school year, reporter Janet Hefler reports that 2,334 students will answer the school bell next week.
The start of the school year is full of promise. Many of the bonds forged in Island classrooms will last a lifetime, and the lessons learned will help guide our young people as they move forward into the future.
We wish new Superintendent Matthew D’Andrea well as he prepares to leave his mark on the Martha’s Vineyard Public School system.
Vehicle drivers are reminded to use extra caution, and remember that there will be many excited youngsters on Island roadways traveling to and from school.