Canada Post to end urban home delivery

[colinian]

There's an interesting article on Yahoo Canada about Canada Post ending home delivery in urban areas in a few years. Here's the link to the article: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-post-stop-urban-home-mail-delivery-133845077.html

Colin

[Merkin]

Sneaky bastards are going to end up with tight-knit, caring communities within their urban areas, since evidence supports the fact that village culture is enhanced when neighborhood residents gather at their mail boxes to exchange greetings and gossip. Another Canadian ploy to be better than us. Dang.

[Cole Parker]

I heard about this on the radio, and people were saying how bad it was because there are lots of icy streets and sidewalks and old folks will have lots of troubles getting to and from the central mail drop. I like optimistic view James espouses above better.

C

[Nigel Gordon]

If anything it will probably set up a thriving business for some enterprising youngsters. Back in the late 80's I lived in a rural part of Germany and we only got our mail delivered on Monday and Friday but could pick it up from the post office in town any day about a five mile round trip. This was an experiment tried by the German Post office. The second week of the experiment a local lad knocked on my door and informed me that for 5 DM a week he would collect my post every for me, he got the job. He and two friends covered all the houses and apartments in the hamlet and most signed up. The boys went to the post office after school (the had to go into town for the high school) and picked up all our post, then delivered it when they got back to the village. It worked well whilst the experiment lasted but the Post Office found out they were actually losing business and people were paying to have stuff delivered by courier rather than post so they went back to normal deliveries.

[Cole Parker]

I don't know how many waivers of responsibility and power of attorneys or whatever the PO here would require to let kids pick up people's mail. I'm not sure that would work here.

C

[Nigel Gordon]

I don't know how many waivers of responsibility and power of attorneys or whatever the PO here would require to let kids pick up people's mail. I'm not sure that would work here.

C

That probably shows how much more economically efficient the Germans are. I think nearly every German kid I met was running a business of one sort or another, even if it was only collecting the used beer bottles and taking them back to the shops to get the deposits. When I was working at IBM in Boblingen there was a lad who was at the technical school in Stuttgart (close to the main railway station). He used to buy up English language papers as the news agents by the station and bring them back to Boblingen and resell them putting a DMark on the price of each. I think nearly all the English contractors bought copies.