We are all fond of our local post offices, the friendly faces behind the counters, the helpful assistance given in mailing packages, and the excellent carriers who take the mail to roadside boxes. They move millions of pieces every day.

On the other hand, we all want our mail, and we want it now. And it seems that mail delivery problems are not getting much better in spite of automation in central distribution offices. Our friendly postal staffers can’t do much about that!

To make matters worse, the cash-strapped postal service, under Congressional mandate to make it financially on its own, has been contemplating ending Saturday delivery (out-of-town subscribers: think even slower delivery of this newspaper), and closing many community post offices and sectional centers. Ken Blum, a columnist on the newspaper business, said these moves "would all add up to postal delivery that is weak, slow and ineffectual, and that’s not only bad for newspapers, it’s bad f...