THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
In response to some of the hate mail that you have been receiving concerning the U.S. Postal Service: I am one of many who are proud to serve.
I have been employed with the postal service for 12 years, and I've seen a lot of changes, but none like the ones that are taking place right here in Hampton Roads today. We are continually upgrading our equipment to enable us to process more mail more efficiently. During our busiest season, we are able to process more than a million pieces of mail daily in our building on the corner of Church St. in downtown Norfolk.
How many organizations can say that they handle this volume of business and maintain a 100 percent satisfaction rate?
I ask the public to remember that the U.S. Postal Service handles more than 170 billion pieces of mail annually, which accounts for about 40 percent of the total volume of mail globally. For the lay person, that adds up to a huge amount of mail. Sure there are horror stories of a letter here and there taking in exorbitant amount of time to get across town, and I myself find it inexcusable, but we are trying.
We're trying to find your house, even when we can't decipher what's on the envelope. Every night in our building, I can hear one clerk asking another one, ``What does this look like to you? Does this say Wainwright; no, maybe it's Albright; hmmm, maybe is says Grandma St. What state is it? Is that VA or MA, or maybe it's . . . hmmm.''
Please be patient. We are trying.
PENNY McALLISTER
U.S. postal clerk
Virginia Beach, Feb. 2, 1996 by CNB