There’s a problem

I haven’t been overly concerned about stories of the U.S. Postal Service problems, assuming they would be worked out. These problems hit home, however, when our son did not receive the birthday card we mailed.

With adult children in Kentucky and Rhode Island, we always send the usual holiday and birthday cards, which normally arrive in three or four days. Even letters to Seattle and Olympia are usually delivered within a day or two. I mailed a birthday card to Lexington, KY, on August 18 from our local Spokane post office; upon asking my son if he had received the card, he said it had not been delivered. Finally, the card arrived in Kentucky on August 28; it was postmarked in Spokane on August 25, seven full days after I mailed it!

So why (and where) did the letter stay in Spokane for seven days? Why did it take seven days to be postmarked? Was it intentionally set aside with other mail to delay processing? What if that birthday card had been my income tax return? Or a bill due by a certain date? Or, most importantly, my ballot? Obviously, we have a problem that needs solving now.

Dennie Crowe

Spokane