As US Post Office Revenue Drops During Coronavirus Outbreak, One USPS Worker Explains Why We Should Care
COVID-19 has hit the United States harshly, with the confirmed cases in the country topping the charts. According to the data provided by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), as of April 13, there are 557,590 confirmed cases in the US along with 22,109 deaths. With so many cases and a staggering amount of casualties, it’s small wonder that the lives of millions of people are affected all across the country. As unemployment rates go up and essential workers being put at risk every single day, thousands of businesses are either on the verge of a crisis or are already going out of business.
With the rapid spread of COVID-19, the United States Postal Service is experiencing some of the hardest financial times ever. And President Trump’s administration rejecting bailout for the US Postal Service definitely made some employees feel panicked. But just like millions of essential workers who’ve gone on strike in the US, some USPS employees decided to use their voices and reach the public.
One of them is a man who called himself Dingus J. McGee. He recently started a powerful Twitter thread advocating for everyone to pay attention and help out the USPS. His arguments not only touched the political and economical side of the story, but also were directed at a more sensitive, emotional side. Bored Panda reached out to McGee for additional comment and he provided some information.
More info: Twitter
McGee shared his experiences with the world to ask for people’s support
“I’m a mid-30s City Letter Carrier with the US Postal Service, a job I’ve done for the last seven years,” the man told us, “2 as a non-career contract employee, and the last 5 in a full-time capacity”. When asked what inspired him to sit down and create the thread, McGee offered a lengthy explanation:
“I decided to create the thread because, even long before I worked for USPS, I highly valued them as a vital part of our communities and our nations. Working there for as long as I have has shown me how much more is done by our mail handlers, clerks, and carriers every single day than you could ever expect if we were run private and for-profit. Everyone in our office has stories and relationships with their customers, and many have served the exact same people for more than 30 years. I would hate to lose all of that just because of a profit motivation.”
The man also explained that the response from the people following the Twitter thread was overwhelmingly positive. “Many folks already seem to understand the importance of the service, but just as many seem even more grateful now that they have an expanded understanding of what we do,” he said.
He also urged people to help out and explained what they can do:
“The best thing people can do is reach out to their representatives, at the state and federal level, to try to pressure them to include stimulus money in the next COVID-19 package, or a repeal of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. On a personal level, it always helps to buy stamps, too! If we can’t visit our friends and loved ones right now, we can always send them a letter in the mail!”
McGee’s Twitter thread sparked quite a discussion and people expressed their thoughts on it
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I absolutely love this. My father walked a mail route for 35 years. Eleven miles per day, five days per week and when he retired, he had to have the joints in his thumbs replaced from the years of sorting mail. Dad always carried dog treats, he knew his town and his people, he was often the only person that some people saw on a daily basis. He returned lost dogs and cats, and more than once, found a lost child. He responded to medical emergencies, he turned in criminals that were hiding out, he even once assisted in a DEA raid of a meth operation. He took a lot of pride in his work and his town. At the local bar on the occasional Saturday night that Dad would stop in, he used to win free beer by playing this game...someone would pull out a phone book and read an address and Dad would tell them who lived there. In the rare instance that he was wrong, it was because someone had moved since the phone book was printed - and Dad could tell them where and when the family moved.
When my dad died, his USPS woman came to the funeral. She was the one who called the police for a wellness check whenever he took too long to get to the door, she's the who called me when he had to go to the hospital. I have a friend who works as a rural carrier who has often done the same for people on her routes. These people are often in the position of first responders, because they are the first ones to be aware of problems. They are the ones who see our elderly parents each day and who often know more about their situations than relatives do. My heartfelt thanks to all of them, as well as our official first responders
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Damn straight. The USPS is NOT supported directly by taxpayer money, since the 1980s, btw. Look it up, and marvel that we even still *have* a postal system in the US....
Seems strange that Us postal services claim they suffer from Corona while in my country the postal service says that they can hardly handle the work. Everyone is in lockdown, people can't shop and out of boredom they have started ordering stuff online. They say that their daily workload now is even bigger than during the Christmas-period. Their postmen are considering taking them to court for more pay since they have to work a lot more and harder.
Same in my country. The gov has encouraged us to buy online and so their delivery is higher too.
Load More Replies...
Mail is another one of those things that people take for granted. Imagine a year without mail service.
I used to believe wholeheartedly in the USPS. Such an amazing service. Fast and reliable. But after Katrina, mail in Louisiana became a mess. Even now, it is still bad. My Priority Mail package of Christmas gifts in 2019 did NOT arrive on time. Also, I sell on eBay. USPS was my carrier of choice. Then, about 5 months ago, things were being broken at an alarming rate. And USPS just stopped paying insurance claims, full stop. Even after 3 and 4 appeals - denied denied denied.
I get this is from his perspective and that's fine. However, my experience with USPS hasn't been very pleasant. I personally won't lose sleep in there's no USPS tomorrow.
Oh my!!! Thank you! I'm sending this to everyone I know and following the instructions on how to help. The irony of covid crisis is it has awakened the importance of family and friends in America to get back to Basics D technology whichof course has brought us through this we now understand how important it is to connnect with each other even if 6' away how important it is to have a social connection with someone. How isolating it is to purely rely on the infrastructure of the Internet and all the conveniences that virtual reality of life gives us. We still need each other and we still need a postal worker to say hello to us be concerned for our older population in rural communities, deliver that last mile. Privatization will not a dress our personal needs. Will not provide concern and extra eyes over our rural America the way the postmen and women have done for years and years. The postal workers and the USPS is complicated. I see requires lots of attention though, In In terms
I get what he’s saying but there’s way too much junk mail/paper to deal with. I rather not have to cut down anymore trees.
You would most likely get more junk mail from a private mail company that delivers due to ad profits.
Load More Replies...
I love my post office, and the folks who work there are just great. I've voted by mail for years now. What will I do if I can't vote by mail? I live in a rural area with dirt roads; voting in person is just nasty.
I have a small business. I send bills in the mail. Each one costs me about a Dollar. 51₵ for the stamp, 20₵ for the two window self sealing envelope, 10₵ for the self addressed return envelope, and I am not sure how much my printer costs to print the invoice. Without the post office, it would be cheaper for me to pay someone to call and ask for the money.
Sorry, but USPS is the most unreliable way to send anything. I can count on FedEx and UPS delivering/sending items like clockwork. USPS not so much, who knows when a delivery will be made.
Guess you missed the part where those two use the post office to complete deliveries where they've decided it's not profitable to go, but go off, I guess.
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It's not that I don't value USPS, but I just can't get worked up about every industry getting hit by this, because it is basically all of us.
Then you either didn't read, or didn't comprehend the post. People rely on the post office, sometimes for life affecting deliveries (medicine, for one thing). The PS failing or going private would actively harm people and their ability to communicate. If you 'can't get worked up' you're not valuing the PS.
Load More Replies...
I absolutely love this. My father walked a mail route for 35 years. Eleven miles per day, five days per week and when he retired, he had to have the joints in his thumbs replaced from the years of sorting mail. Dad always carried dog treats, he knew his town and his people, he was often the only person that some people saw on a daily basis. He returned lost dogs and cats, and more than once, found a lost child. He responded to medical emergencies, he turned in criminals that were hiding out, he even once assisted in a DEA raid of a meth operation. He took a lot of pride in his work and his town. At the local bar on the occasional Saturday night that Dad would stop in, he used to win free beer by playing this game...someone would pull out a phone book and read an address and Dad would tell them who lived there. In the rare instance that he was wrong, it was because someone had moved since the phone book was printed - and Dad could tell them where and when the family moved.
When my dad died, his USPS woman came to the funeral. She was the one who called the police for a wellness check whenever he took too long to get to the door, she's the who called me when he had to go to the hospital. I have a friend who works as a rural carrier who has often done the same for people on her routes. These people are often in the position of first responders, because they are the first ones to be aware of problems. They are the ones who see our elderly parents each day and who often know more about their situations than relatives do. My heartfelt thanks to all of them, as well as our official first responders
Load More Replies... Damn straight. The USPS is NOT supported directly by taxpayer money, since the 1980s, btw. Look it up, and marvel that we even still *have* a postal system in the US....
Seems strange that Us postal services claim they suffer from Corona while in my country the postal service says that they can hardly handle the work. Everyone is in lockdown, people can't shop and out of boredom they have started ordering stuff online. They say that their daily workload now is even bigger than during the Christmas-period. Their postmen are considering taking them to court for more pay since they have to work a lot more and harder.
Same in my country. The gov has encouraged us to buy online and so their delivery is higher too.
Load More Replies... Mail is another one of those things that people take for granted. Imagine a year without mail service.
I used to believe wholeheartedly in the USPS. Such an amazing service. Fast and reliable. But after Katrina, mail in Louisiana became a mess. Even now, it is still bad. My Priority Mail package of Christmas gifts in 2019 did NOT arrive on time. Also, I sell on eBay. USPS was my carrier of choice. Then, about 5 months ago, things were being broken at an alarming rate. And USPS just stopped paying insurance claims, full stop. Even after 3 and 4 appeals - denied denied denied.
I get this is from his perspective and that's fine. However, my experience with USPS hasn't been very pleasant. I personally won't lose sleep in there's no USPS tomorrow.
Oh my!!! Thank you! I'm sending this to everyone I know and following the instructions on how to help. The irony of covid crisis is it has awakened the importance of family and friends in America to get back to Basics D technology whichof course has brought us through this we now understand how important it is to connnect with each other even if 6' away how important it is to have a social connection with someone. How isolating it is to purely rely on the infrastructure of the Internet and all the conveniences that virtual reality of life gives us. We still need each other and we still need a postal worker to say hello to us be concerned for our older population in rural communities, deliver that last mile. Privatization will not a dress our personal needs. Will not provide concern and extra eyes over our rural America the way the postmen and women have done for years and years. The postal workers and the USPS is complicated. I see requires lots of attention though, In In terms
I get what he’s saying but there’s way too much junk mail/paper to deal with. I rather not have to cut down anymore trees.
You would most likely get more junk mail from a private mail company that delivers due to ad profits.
Load More Replies... I love my post office, and the folks who work there are just great. I've voted by mail for years now. What will I do if I can't vote by mail? I live in a rural area with dirt roads; voting in person is just nasty.
I have a small business. I send bills in the mail. Each one costs me about a Dollar. 51₵ for the stamp, 20₵ for the two window self sealing envelope, 10₵ for the self addressed return envelope, and I am not sure how much my printer costs to print the invoice. Without the post office, it would be cheaper for me to pay someone to call and ask for the money.
Sorry, but USPS is the most unreliable way to send anything. I can count on FedEx and UPS delivering/sending items like clockwork. USPS not so much, who knows when a delivery will be made.
Guess you missed the part where those two use the post office to complete deliveries where they've decided it's not profitable to go, but go off, I guess.
Load More Replies... It's not that I don't value USPS, but I just can't get worked up about every industry getting hit by this, because it is basically all of us.
Then you either didn't read, or didn't comprehend the post. People rely on the post office, sometimes for life affecting deliveries (medicine, for one thing). The PS failing or going private would actively harm people and their ability to communicate. If you 'can't get worked up' you're not valuing the PS.
Load More Replies... 
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