Dear Ace, I went to the 11th Street post office that’s near my house the other day to mail my boyfriend a mix CD as proof of my undying love and affection. However, when I got there the doors were locked, the lights were out, and the place looked empty. I was there well within normal business hours and it was not one of those crazy federal holidays. What gives?—Carrie Carepackage
Carrie: You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute, yesssssss, you gotta wait a minute, wait a minute, please, please Mistress Carepackage…and take in the clues. Closed during business hours? Empty? Granted, the federal government sometimes gets stuff done at a rate that would imply they are closed during business hours. However, the last time Ace checked, inefficiency, thy name is bureaucracy. So, honey, wake up and smell the glue: Your post office is closed, as in shut down, kaput, gone with the wind, finito.
Ever the intrepid reporter, Ace donned his wire-rimmed glasses and phoned Lois Miller, Richmond District Communications Coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service, for confirmation.
“Yessiree, Bob…I mean, Ace,” Miller said. “That post office has been closed since March 6.”
Having been in at the 11th Street location since 1966, the 22903 post office has to be packed up and moved out by the end of March. The sudden evacuation is the result of a little landlord issue. No, the postal workers weren’t leaving junked cars in the yard. According to Miller, the landlord simply wanted to renegotiate the lease and the post office said, “Foggeta-boutit. We’re out.”
As the post office looks for a new space to camp out—a search which Miller says may or may not land them a new location—those 400 to 500 people who had P.O. boxes at the 11th Street office have been transferred to the Downtown location where they have their very own section of the building, cordoned off behind a red rope, no doubt. For those just looking for stamps, packages and eye candy, the options are less limited. There are still post offices not only Downtown, but at Barracks Road and Seminole Trail that aren’t in any danger of calling it quits anytime soon.