Washington continues to talk about the fate of the U.S. Postal Service. Additionally, the country's Postal Service is financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as a significant shift had occurred on how the public uses their services, says an article.

Changes

In the past six weeks, a mailman from Loomis, California, noticed changes brought by COVID-19 to the mail. He had seen genuinely appreciative and beautiful smiles of the community where he delivers mail.

He noticed that a lot of mailboxes are being emptied more frequently than before.

The widespread stay-at-home orders to the people had resulted in the public looking for activities to do. Furthermore, he had noticed that his conversations with customers had been longer and person than before.

He was not only one experiencing and witnessing such changes as his fellow carriers have also experienced these things since the beginning of the pandemic.

Getting the mail had become one of the most significant activities of the day for those who are stuck at home.

Small Acts of Gratitude

Mail carriers are being shown small gestures of gratitude, such as being given gift cards, bottles of wine, and heartwarming notes with messages of appreciation by their customers.

One customer expressed her gratitude for the services of the mailmen. She even shared that the mailmen were the ones delivering her medicine. She also suggested that mail carriers should be given hazard pay for the nature of their work during this pandemic.

Delivery Must Continue

Some mailmen deliver stationery, pet food, books, disinfectant wipes, clothing, makeup, toilet paper, and hand sanitizers. Their office is also filled with PPE items for every employee. Every employee in the office is now handling three times the volume that they usually deliver.

Personal Letters 

There is also an increasing number of personal letters being sent through the mail. It is an exciting find in this age as more and more people are relying on an online conference call through FaceTime, Zoom, and Skype.

 According to one of the customers of the mailmen, a letter is more intimate than the messages sent through modern technology. The reason for this is that people tend to reflect more when writing a letter. It allows people to say what the things they cannot say in person, the customer added.

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Short-lived

The small increase in the volume of personal letters being sent through the mail will be short-lived as it competes with the digital age's technology.

Postmaster General Megan Brennan expressed to lawmakers that there is a need to fund the Postal Service by more or less $75 billion in the following years in case it runs out of funds by the end of September. This is not good timing with the upcoming presidential elections, and a lot of U.S. voters are voting by mail.

The government is still in the process of figuring out the future of the Postal Service. Washington had already assigned its 630,000 employees as essential workers, where the novel coronavirus is striking an increasing number.

Mail carriers are expressing their gratitude for the sense of purpose given to them by their customers. They appreciate their customer's view of them as part of the life of Americans since the discovery of the country.