The 37 Cent Whammy

So, as of April 1, 2014, the Canadian postal rate for domestic mail rose 37 cents per letter - that's quite a hike!  No more 3 cents here and 4 cents there every six months, just one big whammy.

Perhaps we should consider paying our bills in person, on computer or at the bank.  Maybe charities will rethink sending solicitation mail. Junk mail could be reduced. Christmas cards may have been dealt a death blow (I like the animated ones you can send online). Maybe mailing lists will be perused for duplicates. Maybe everyone will begin to consider alternate means of distributing their information. It would be good to cut down on paper consumption. Will this rate hike be an inconvenience, will it change the way personal and business correspondence is disseminated?

None of the above seems to be too much of an inconvenience to me.  But we are expected to believe that this price rise will benefit the postal service in some way, increase their revenue, make the postal business more solvent. Maybe the above is more wishful thinking than reality. Many prices rise, a bit here, a bit there, and if it's something we want, well, we grit our teeth and pay.

Door to door mail delivery (who's been getting this service???) will be phased out. Since I already have to drive 5 miles to get my mail, and since most of the smaller towns already get their mail in lock boxes rather than at their door, well, once again, no big deal. I do feel for the mailmen who will lose their jobs. Hopefully they will be absorbed somewhere else in the postal system.

So where is the Canadian Postal Service going? Anyone who has mailed a package in the last few years has recognized that the cost of postage often exceeds the value of the contents and is beginning to explore alternate means of package delivery. An electronic fund transfer may replace care packages of Mom's jams and baked goods.

Ordering gifts, from Amazon, Sears, etc., to be sent directly to the recipient may replace those lovingly gift wrapped items sent to the kids. Kinda strips away the personal touch though. But personal touch is disappearing rapidly in more than one sector of our society. We spend more chat time with our friends on-line or on a smart phone than we do with the person sitting across the table from us. But that's another story. The post office? Well, I think companies like Amazon will provide its lifeblood, and many other  companies, like the government, will continue to use letter service despite the price, passing the extra cost onto the consumer. Me, hey, I'm an alternate energy advocate, I like looking for better ways to accomplish whatever I'm doing.  I think I'll start by trying to stop the few charities I give $20 to at Christmas from spending my entire donation on mailings full of glossy brochures informing me of their projects and progress and soliciting another donation. They hope I'll send them another cheque, by mail, for an extra 37 cents. Not gonna happen.