On Monday this week (in the United States) we had no mail delivery because of Veterans’ Day.
To miss mail for one day is not a problem, but what if this occurred on a regular basis? What if Saturday delivery was omitted or we only received mail three days a week? (These ideas are considerations to help the USPS — United States Postal Service — save money.)
I could deal with that, too.
But what if all deliveries stopped? Looking at what I receive via US mail, what would be the contingency plan?
- Magazines: I like my magazines but would not start reading them online (at least not how it works today). I guess I’d go without — and that would give me more time for other activities. (Of course this would be a problem for those in the magazine business.)
- Bills: More and more companies send invoices and statements via email. This allows me to move one step closer to paperless bill paying.
- Checks: My business receives some checks via mail. But payment could be made by credit card or electronic funds transfer instead.
- Formal communication: Invitations and thank you notes, as well as cards are typically mailed. If need be, they could go online as well.
- Shipments: Although the USPS is sometimes the least expensive option, it’s far from the only one.
- Ads and junk mail: I could do without this category of mail, but I supposed they’d go online too and start spamming me.
The USPS isn’t likely to stop all mail delivery anytime soon, but if they did, we could get by.