Another cheap shot at the Postal Service

So this "investigative" reporter in Colorado decides that letter carriers with suspended licenses would be a great topic for an undercover investigation. He in essence tells us that the Postal Service is assigning drivers to drive letter carriers around who have lost their licenses for DUI. Of course his thesis is all about waste. You can read his story here.

You would think a story about Postal Service waste would include a t least a passing reference to the 80 billion dollars the Service overpaid into the Civil Service Retirement System. But no, apparently taking shots at the workers makes for better ratings.

As someone who worked for the Service for 15 years, I can tell you that as with all large organizations, there are good and bad employees. I was fortunate to work in a facility where there were lots of dedicated employees who cared about there jobs and about the organization in which they served. Of course there were some bad employees, but I challenge you to find an organization with 600,000 employees and no employees with issues.

I also challenge the reporter who wrote that piece to take a look at the Service's upper management. I think he would have a few things to say about the way the service does its business.

Christmas

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.'"-- Luke 2:8-11.

What exactly is Christmas? We all agree that it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but how did it become a day of gift giving and secular celebration? Quite simply, it's a tradition of the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. Saturnalia, the feast of the Roman god of the harvest, was held late every year after the harvest. It was a way to thank Saturn for the past growing season and the tradition included exchanging gifts, feasts, and slaves becoming master for a day (this is still carried on in places, except employees take their bosses' places).

There is some postulation that the Christians needed to equate their holy days with Roman festivals so that Christianity would have a degre of familiarity to the Romans. Since Saturnalia was the biggest holiday of the year, it seemed logical to equate it with Christendom's biggest event (the birth of Jesus of Nazareth).

So... when you hear someone complain that Christmas is too much about gift giving and not about celebrating the birth of Jesus, you can now remind them that if they really want to celebrate Jesus' birth, they should hold a ritual of worship on his true birthday... September 7.

Merry Christmas!

The Post Office

This Christmas, when you are enjoying the company of family and friends and the warmth and joy of the holiday season, take a moment to keep a good thought for the men and women of the United States Postal Service. I worked for that organization for 15 years. I can tell you first hand that the employees of this agency have been working tirelessly since the day after Thanksgiving, ensuring that your cards and packages are delivered safely and accurately.

The tough thing is that they won't get the time we all get to enjoy the day. They will be in on Christmas night "cleaning up" after a month of working 12 hours a day. Most of them won't take a real rest until after New Year's.

They make a fairly substantial sacrifice, spending little time with their families so that the mail will go through and packages will be where they're supposed to be by Christmas Eve.

To all my former coworkers... it was a privilege working with you for all those years. Thank You.