Threat of disappearing of the Post Office is another assault on things we take for granted to make up our world and its daily routine.  As an individual and as a business - Natural Clothing Company, we love our Post Office for its history, dedication, friendliness. It's definitely not perfect but it has so much value than faults. Unlike other mailing services, Post Office and a mailman is a part of the culture like a teacher and policeman.

As a business, we are happy to ship 98% of our packages through Priority Mail of postal service. When we researched which service to use, which transportation methods are the most ecologically friendly and the best financial value for our customers – Post Office was on a top of the competition. The most important factor is that the Post Office already delivers to ALL the households and businesses around U.S. There are no additional trucks, routes, fuel, personnel created to deliver packages with the mail. They use Cradle to Cradle certified packaging, use soy inks, many of the Post Office vehicles in our area are hybrid. There is much more info you can find at http://about.usps.com/what-we-are-doing/green/welcome.htm

There are many times when I would not pull my car out into driveway because of ice, sleet or storm but the Post Office mail shows up. The service at the counter is always kind and friendly even at the end of the day. At least in our small Snohomish Post Office, the employees are my personal models of fantastic customer service.

Our town just recently decided to discontinue its own police force (will contract it instead) for budget reasons. It really is a time to stop and look - how far we are willing to go to destroy the main points of stability of our communities. Especially at times when the confidence in many institutions (banks, corporations) is gone and it will take decades to rebuild that. I am sure that if we all look together at the value of what makes communities strong, we can find better solutions than just closing what needs fixing instead.

Once you look more carefully, it seems that the problems of Post Office were not created by institution itself only. Check the website http://www.savethepostoffice.com. It is written and administered by Steve Hutkins, who has no affiliation with the U.S. Postal Service—he doesn’t work for it, nor does anyone in his family.  Like millions of Americans, he just likes his local post office, and he doesn’t want to see post offices being closed. In the video posted there, Sam Sader describes a bill passed five years ago by Bush administration which greatly contributed to current Post Office problems. Take few minutes to watch it here and decide for yourself.

The more entertaining clips can be found on Colbert Report http://www.colbertnation.com/. Where he hosts Philip F. Rubio,  assistant professor of history at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and long term worker of Post Office, as well as the author of "There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality".  You can read the article written by him at http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/09/opinion/rubio-postal-service-matters/index.html .

What do you think? If we let Post Office fail, who will be next? We would love to hear from you.