Envelope of opportunity

The Postal Service is in trouble. It is confronted with huge deficits due to less bulk mailing by companies and less first-class mail in the form of letters and bills, which has resulted in billions fewer pieces of mail this year.

Why should you care? You should care because the Postal Service delivers our ballots, delivers vital medication for the sick and the elderly, delivers important legal correspondence and much-anticipated packages come Christmas time. The post office also employs over 600,000 people in this country, one of the largest employers in the world, and creates business and employment for an untold number of other companies that directly or indirectly have something to do with the mail.

The USPS also hires veterans with a preference over other applicants and provides good-paying jobs with benefits to sometimes unskilled workers in small towns and big cities across the country.

For these reasons and many more, please buy some stamps, please send letters, please pay your bills by mail, please send and request that your packages be sent via the mail, and please smile and wave hello next time you see your mail carrier.

Levi Hanson

Spokane