In praise of the Post Office

Business Week wrote this piece on the imminent collapse of the U.S. Post Office in May, but it’s in the top five stories this week.

The funny thing is, I like the Post Office. I think it’s more more efficient than its physical world rivals, especially for packages sent to people who live outside urban centers. I write letters more than I used to, in some kind of homage to the tactile act of using pen and paper. I also like getting mail, and I think I like more than I like getting email or Facebook friends. Finally, I think, perhaps wrongly, that it increases friction to keep paying bills by paper. Banks like to claim that online banking is more secure, but I suspect it is also more attacked. I also fret that the more online accounts I have, the more vulnerable I am.

By chance, the Boston Globe ran this piece about writing letters in the digital age today.

Not sure I’d pay $60 a year to keep having things mailed to me, but I already decline 5 percent discounts on some bills in order to keep writing checks.