[lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Let's talk about beauty â
- From: "Judith Evans" <judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:43:02 +0100
I ask because, on one hypothesis, what you are encountering
> is the muddle that naturally follows when a former monopoly
suddenly
> faces competition
briefly -- because clearly, I need to give you more information -
post offices will, by government decree, not be able to sell
TV licenses, other people will. This is not a matter of
a former monopoly suddenly facing competition.
(I'm glad you now have some mail delivered to the door. Ye Olde
Socialist Monopolist Royal Mail service has always done that.)
----- Original Message -----
From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 10:07 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Re:
[lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Let's talk about beauty â
> Judy wrote,
>
> >
> > typical; I wonder whether that will happen in the postal
service
> > here; people are fighting to keep post offices open
> >
>
> What do we know about the history of privatization in the UK
and
> Germany? I ask because, on one hypothesis, what you are
encountering
> is the muddle that naturally follows when a former monopoly
suddenly
> faces competition. Over time things may straighten out.
>
> The hypothesis seems plausible to me because, during recent
trips to
> the U.S. I have noticed that the U.S. Postal service has
improved
> dramatically from this customer's perspective.
>
> The most recent examples are from Corpus Christi, Texas, where
Ruth
> and I just spent seven weeks getting to know our new grandson.
>
> 1. Our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson live in a suburban
housing
> development where the boxes to which their neighborhood's mail
is
> delivered are concentrated at the end of a long street. The
distance
> is far enough that walking back and forth to pick up the mail
takes
> about 10 minutes. No joke, however, for a young mother with a
newborn
> delivered by Caesarean section.
>
> When, however, the Postman who delivers the mail noticed the
lawn sign
> proudly announcing "It's a Boy!" he took it on himself to hand
deliver
> the mail to my daughter's door until it was plain that she was
up and
> about again.
>
> 2. While we were there, Ruth had fallen a bit behind on
knitting a
> christening gown for the grandson. It wasn't finished by the
time the
> kids took off for New York for the christening, leaving us
house and
> dog sitting. Ruth finished the gown on a Wednesday and called
to
> confirm that it could be delivered by Express Mail on Friday.
We ran
> it down to the Post Office. It arrived ahead of schedule on
Thursday.
>
> 3. We had some important documents relating to my father's
estate to
> mail. Arriving at the Post Office, we found a long line of
people
> waiting for counter service, so, being computer-literate, we
tried the
> new fully automated kiosk. The documents were inserted in a
> standard-sized pouch and placed on the scale. The touch screen
allowed
> us to select Certified Mail with return notification. In went
the
> credit card, out came the postage. All that was left to do was
to fill
> out the standard label and pop the pouch into the special
handling
> postal box that was sitting beside the postage dispenser. But
that
> isn't the story.
>
> We had, in filling out the label, neglected to remove the
customer
> copy from the label pack. We were presently surprised when it
was
> delivered to us in the next day's mail.
>
> These are, of course, only anecdotes concerning the service
provided
> by one post office in a smallish city in South Texas. I note,
too,
> that to get to that post office we had to drive about four
miles, so
> the question of how people who have no cars or are unable to
drive get
> to that post office is a real one.
>
> Still, based on previous experience, it does seem that the U.S.
Post
> Office, facing increasing competition from the likes of FedEx
and UPS,
> has, in fact, dramatically improved its service. What we are
seeing,
> however, is the outcome of a process that has been underway
for, what,
> impressionistically, seems a couple of decades now.
>
> --
> John McCreery
> The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
>
> US CITIZEN ABROAD?
> YOU'RE THE DECIDER!
> Register to Vote in '06 Elections
> www.VoteFromAbroad.org
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