GenMassachusetts-L Archives

Archiver > GenMassachusetts > 2000-03 > 0953938685


From: Warren Wetmore <>
Subject: Re: [GM-L] Re: GenMassachusetts-D Digest V00 #157
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 17:58:05 -0500
References: <200003241731.MAA02950@acestes-fe0.ultra.net>


Peg wrote:
>
> >>The change was actually a cost saving idea by our "Friends" at
> >>the US Postal Service. They found that it was expensive to make all
> >>those signs with all those long names ending in "borough" so they took
> >>it appon them selves to shorten them.
> >They can't deliver the mail on time and they want to
> >name our towns? LOL! Enough to make one "go postal."
>
> Warren - Some of those "friends" are list members and genealogists, like
> myself. FYI, the Postal Service has nothing to do with making signs. And for
> your edification, the New England region has one of the highest scores for
> on-time mail delivery in the entire country.
>
> Can we move on to a more suitable subject? Let's get back to genealogy and
> stop insulting people. "Going postal" is not a topic for jokes.
>
> Peg

Whoa, Peg,

Take a deep breath.

1. "Best on-time mail delivery in the whole country." Congrats,
but is the best of a bad lot all that much to brag about? USPS
doesn't come close to the level of service provided by the postal
authorities of Western Europe, usually at a lower cost per
first-class stamp.

2. "Nothing to do with making signs." Nice to hear that, but
but the signs in question were the ones on the front of the local
PO, which most likely WERE made by the USPS or its predecessor.

3. "Going postal." Note that the phrase isn't "going 7-Eleven"
or "going Department of Agriculture." An AltaVista search
on the phrase turns up 4,864 separate Web SITES (not just pages)
where the phrase appears. Like it or not, it has entered the
American vocabulary and means "to run amok and shoot someone."
I didn't invent the phrase. And it wasn't USDA meat
inspectors shooting people.

I regret that you were insulted by what was meant to be a light-
hearted comment, but I can't agree that it wasn't fair commentary.
The USPS is a model of inefficiency. Mail is often delayed. And
some postal workers have run amok.

Best regards,

Warren Wetmore

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