Real Forever Stamp
Today there is so much talk and worry about a troubled Postal Service from employees on the workroom floor, and discussed by many in the general public. Pundits say many factors will impact the future of our business, including but not limited to labor crafts in the midst of contract re-negotiations, management officials focusing like a laser on five day delivery, the agency dealing with an unfunded liability, an involuntary interest in shuffling employees around, and never ending competition through electronic diversion. Technology is blamed as a competitive disadvantage and significant reason for declining mail volumes. With all these issues added together the financial future looks bleak. The powers-to-be, I’m talking about union, and management, really have their work cut out to toil in cohesion to do everything necessary to maintain a real forever stamp on the Postal Service as we know it.
Listening to all the talk in the trenches, on the street, and from the media brings to mind the “Set Your Course” anecdote that goes like this “imagine a pilot coming over the intercom and announcing: I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is we have lost one engine and the direction finder. The good news is we have a tail wind and wherever we are going we are getting there at a rate of 600 miles an hour.” That is scary and disheartening news. Does that anecdote explain what is happening with our Postal Service as a big business?
I wrote the following poem because I believe in the business and hope things will only get better for the sake of our proud history, the livelihood of several hundred thousand employees, and many millions of citizens who depend on us every day.
Stamp This!
Ben Franklin was the first postal boss
Mail was even carried to Betsy Ross
Before creation of the great American flag
We delivered freedom and continue to brag
Via trains, planes, cars, or pony express
Today our value is still the best
Distributing with the grace of an Eagle
Flat rate packages make business growth unbelievable
Before the revolution of current day transportation
We were slower and didn’t utilize automation
From stamps to parcels everyone simply wins
Our organizational language is loaded with acronyms
With barcodes, truckloads to worldwide zip codes
Technology improves our time on the roads
Reduce, reuse, recycle and transitioning to green
Enough said, everyone knows what I mean
Always ready this supersonic Eagle never sleeps
Designing new services for everyone to peep
Binding the nation together through appointed rounds
Six days a week in your town
Corporate strength is reflected through cultural diversity
It brings out the best in “We”
A temporary economy makes everyone rather nervous
You can count on the Postal Service
In closing, I don’t think there are many more important jobs than delivering mail six days a week to every household and business in America, and throughout the world. I hope we will keep business alive for many more years to come. With that said, it’s time to get ready to do some chop, chop, in the mail processing and delivery chop shop. See you out there!
Ronald Williams, Jr.
Postal Employee