Preschoolers Go Postal — Film at 11!
The press rarely reports happy news regarding the U.S. Postal Service. The news is typically about rate hikes or, often lately, the proposed switch to 5 day delivery.
So here’s something completely different. I’ll be upfront about this post. It involves (a) a bit of nepotism and (b) little in the way of solid marketing content, unless you count some definite brand reinforcement with about a dozen customers-to-be.
My son Danny’s preschool class took a field trip to a local post office this morning. The kids were treated to a tour of the facility, and got to sit inside a mail truck. The mail carriers, who were all getting ready for their routes, answered the kids’ questions and were great hosts.
As someone who has written about the USPS, I found it to be a neat behind the scenes look too. I asked one of the mail carriers how many pieces of mail passed through the post office each week. He wasn’t sure of the exact number. “But it’s definitely not as much as it used to be,” he added a little sadly.
I’m happy to report that I saw stacks of catalogs (the new Crate & Barrel book is apparently dropping even as I type) being handled with care. The Netflix mailers weren’t a favorite, although they were still clearly being treated with respect.
“See these Netflix envelopes? The USPS helped design them but they still get stuck in our machines,” said one carrier. “It’s costing us $30 million each year.”
All in all, it was a good outing. So a big thanks to the USPS. The kids each got to mail a letter, and later there were cookies for snack. Really, what more could you ask for?
