USPS: Set up to fail

I began this blog after publishing, Postal Service, a novel, thinking it would be a good way to promote it but have followed up with very few stories about the Post Office. But they have been in the news a lot lately so I thought I might add to the chatter.

My novel centered on the conflict between several—but mainly one— supervisor and myself. It loosely followed the same story that Charles Bukowski had used when he published his first novel, Post Office in 1971.

The situation we both described were ones common to a lot of businesses—in fact most businesses. The problem the Postal Service is facing today is very unique in that they are practically being forced to go bankrupt by the Congress and Board of Governors charged to manage it.

This column appeared in today’s Virginian-Pilot Forum section

USPS: Set up to fail

 

THIS WHOLE Postal Service issue seems to be very much like the weather — everybody complains about it, but no one wants to do anything about it. Fact is, there are only seven people, those members of the Board of Governors, who can do anything about it, and they choose not to.

Postal Service, a novel

In 1971, Charles Bukowski wrote his first novel, Post Office, which described his ten-year career in the Post Office. His struggles with supervision became a backdrop for the personal story of his drinking, gambling and sordid affairs.

I joined the Postal Service a few year after it was reorganized into a newer, more efficient, more modern organization that could successfully take the company into the 21st century.

As I neared the end of my career I found myself having the same struggles with supervision that Bukowski experienced even though I didn’t come to work drunk and didn’t miss work to play the horses.

In the end, I concluded that the new, enlightened Postal Service wasn't a whole lot different than the old, outmoded Post Office. And, just as Bukowski had done, I decided to write a novel about it.