OPINION: Problems with post office are not new to Trump administration

The problems with the U.S. Post Office began long before the Trump administration, and I, for one, am hoping that new measures will correct years of bad service, although I doubt that will happen under any administration. Bad service seems to be too ingrained for change to occur. That is one of the reasons so many use alternate mail when possible. Also, we should not be subsidizing the losses for the postal system.

In my case, mail delivery at home became so bad that last year I decided to rent a post office box in hopes of at least getting our financial papers delivered. My bank statements, insurance renewal notices, even the renewal notice for my driving license were often not being delivered to my home address. I do not know whether these items were delivered to the wrong address or just never made it out for delivery. On occasion, I received some mail shredded and delivered in a postal envelope.

A few years ago I sent a letter to the Sumter Community Concert Band, and it was returned to me almost a month after being mailed. I checked to ensure I had the right mailing address and zip code. All was correct. I took the returned mail to the local post office and asked what the problem was. The clerk at that time could not see anything incorrect with the address. After some thought, he said it must have been returned because I wrote the name out in full rather than addressing it to "SCCB." He took it, and it did finally get to them.

As Glenn Mollette wrote: "The stage for a fiasco is set for any kind of mail-in ballots this year. People are hollering social distancing and COVID-19. Yet, these same people are walking through Walmart." Like Mr. Mollette, I do not rely on the U.S. post office to get my mail to its destination and most assuredly do not depend on the post office delivering a mail-in ballot on time!

F. DELORES SCHMIDT

Sumter