Bidding Farewell to Saturday Postal Rounds

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds — inscription found on the General Post Office at 8th Avenue and 33rd Street, New York City.

When the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday it will eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1, we felt a pang of sadness.

We will miss the Saturday morning ritual of the mailman's appointed rounds here in the North End when our carrier walks by with a chipper "hello" as the kids shoot hoop and we sip coffee on the back deck.

Our fellow seems perfectly content working Monday to Thursday and Saturday. Now he’ll get the whole weekend off or perhaps work his shift indoors at the main branch on Silver Street.

It’s not like we won’t see him anymore, of course, but not many folks are home during the day when the mail carrier makes his or her rounds. We arrive home after a long day of work to find an envelope or flyer in the box, carried by unseen hands.

That is until Saturday, when if we’re outside, we get the mail handed to us. It’s something that’s rarely done in today’s e-culture.

Middletown Patch posed the question to our Facebook fans yesterday, “Will no more Saturday mail home delivery affect you? It's projected to save $2 billion annually for the USPS.”

We received an array of answers:

• Kathleen Tursi Not me I don't get good mail anyway
• Sean Arena Soon it will be Mon, Wed, Fri, Delivery!
• Michelle Manter Giglietti The mail has gotten slower and slower already which causes people to not utilize it whenever possible.
• Cathy Branch Stebbins I'm ok with it. I always felt bad when the postman had to work on Saturdays.
• Fred Carroll Won't affect me
• Jane Flanders Majewski Only mail in my box is solicitations and advertisements. I use ups to ship- email to write letters- and Internet to find phone numbers. Keep the junk mail- keep the phone book deliveries-
• Jane Flanders Majewski And it's archaic to make their employees deliver in dangerous weather! Really?
• Patricia Kantrowitz ...Ok and backwards we go.
• David Greaves 50 years ago live expectations was 65 so I could understand 20 years of service then retire with full benefits. But now life expectations are in the 80s why still is it 20 years? Why not 25 or 30? Plus why do they have to fund the retirment plan at 150% makes no sense
• Alice Plouchard Stelzer They should have done it a long time agoBottom of Form
• Shirley Rouleau I receive my monthly & weekly incomes in mail-I am not happy about his change at all.
• Kimberly Dragone Barcello Yes it will!!!!'

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