The U.S. Postal Service has been on the verge of collapse for heaven-knows-how-long, but today’s AP article on the N&R’s front page says real cuts —-and resultant reductions in service — are imminent:

Unprecedented cuts by the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service will slow first-class delivery next spring and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

The estimated $3 billion in reductions, to be announced in broader detail later Monday, are part of a wide-ranging effort by the Postal Service to quickly trim costs and avert bankruptcy. They could slow everything from check payments to Netflix’s DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities.

With an employer in Raleigh and wealthy relations* in both Charlotte and Raleigh sending checks in the mail, this is going to hit me hard, dude. However, we’re lucky enough to have a Netflix distribution center here in G’boro, so that quality of life aspect shouldn’t be adversely affected.

Honestly, I’ve got no problems with the post office. Delivery has been prompt, I’ve never had anything lost in the mail and I had a great mail man until he was transferred to another neighborhood.

By the same token, a harsh reality —one that a lot of people have trouble grasping —- must be acknowledged — that “the agency has had a tough time cutting its costs to match the revenue drop, with a history of labor contracts offering good health and pension benefits, underused post offices, and laws that restrict its ability to make basic business decisions, like reducing the frequency of deliveries.”

(*I wish.)