The Post Office And Me 5-19-20: The first thread I wrote about my shopping and experience today

is here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213459497
In this thread I was told that U.S.P.S. post office buildings were owned by the Federal government and that's true in some cases, but I found that many/most post office building are owned privately and
long-term leased to the government. This makes for an interesting arrangement.

link: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=are+u.s.+post+office+buildings+government+property&ia=web

What surprised me today was that when I went to the counter to make my stamp purchase and began sanitizing my area of the counter and the card reader I was told to stop. At last I did and completed my transaction then left.

My experience with any post office is that it's very similar to any business providing goods and services. Of course any business is allowed to mandate the behavior of its customers, like the "NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE notice at many restaurants. I understand that and I'm sure that
by the close of business Post Offices throughout Albuquerque now have notices that say NO
SANITIZING ALLOWED. And that's fine. I'm not always a quick learner but I do learn...

It was also pointed out to me that Postal Workers are still leery of unknown contamination like
the anthrax scare some years back. I agree that it's their right to be concerned. However, I see
some differences in access to Federal Buildings like Social Security offices and Federal Courts. At those places the first thing you see after you enter are armed guards, bins for placing the contents of your pockets and a metal detector to pass through. No Post Office has these precautions in place. You walk in, stand in line and conduct your business without being challenged (unless you try to do some sanitizing) or searched. Again, the U.S.P.S. is doing the best it can and establishing its rules
and I understand and accept that.

In 1971 the U.S.P.S. went from being a cabinet-level organization to an Independent Agency. Ever since then the reTHUG dream has been to privatize the whole operation and they have tried very hard to bankrupt the operation. Let's all push back on that.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=when+did+the+u.s.+postal+service+become+an+independent+agency&t=ffnt&ia=web

Summary:
Nowadays the Postal Service is a hybrid operation, with private owners leasing buildings to the government and operating similarly to many businesses. Postal Workers are all Federal Employees
yet "The Government" is trying to shut them down and establish full privatization. We've got to stop that.

BTW today I bought 40 first-class stamps. They'll last me at least 2 years but I support my post office
and will abide by their rules now that I understand them.