No Delivery

by Thorton Kimes

The U.S. Postal Disservice recently threatened to begin closing many post office branches around the country—their rationalization, that the increasing dominance of e-mail and cell phone texting in many peoples’ daily lives continues to take huge bites out of the USPS’ ability to make a profit and stay in business.

Locally, the USPS wants to close, at the very least, 2 of the 3 North of Market branches in San Francisco, including 9th and Market/Fox Plaza and the General Delivery site at Hyde and Turk Streets. The branch at 450 Golden Gate, which this poverty scholar didn’t even realize existed until recently, is the preferred survivor of the mail branch slaughter.
Poor folks, as always, will bear the brunt of this latest reduction in services. We also tend to be the last on the list to find out about drastic changes being planned.
The 9th and Market/Fox Plaza branch is rarely empty, but the lines would be shorter if the stamp machine that used to be located near the front entrance was returned. The staff at that place has, perhaps, been forced to be less than generous and no longer has an easily accessible Scotch tape dispenser where a customer could just grab a piece of tape to seal an envelope (ya just can’t trust envelopes any more…)—you have to wait in line and ask for it.

Exactly what will happen to the General Delivery service, which many houseless/landless folks in San Francisco depend on to get mail in general and to get very important Welfare documents in specific, also almost the only service (other than mail boxes…not very many because it is actually a small building) that is provided at the Hyde & Turk location?
The USPS, at the very least, needs to make the 450 Golden Gate branch more visible and should expand services at Hyde/Turk to include selling stamps via living breathing bodies or stamp machines. Less is not better, except for poverty!