Editor,
This is sort of a combination letter to the editor and an open letter to Wendall D. O’Connell, the post master in Encampment. Many of the readers of this paper will recall that about a year ago there was community outcry to have Mr. O’Connell removed from his position. That did not happen and he continues to wreak havoc on the distribution of mail in our community.
And here as I see it is the problem. Mr. O’Connell fails to understand that the sole purpose of the USPS is to deliver mail to the customers of the post office. He believes it is his job to educate the community to the rules of the post office, and that is best accomplished by denying people delivery of their mail.
And of course I have an example of this conduct or would not be going to the trouble of writing a letter. Earlier this summer an old friend (old in that we have known each other for a long time and that we are both old) visited Encampment. When he returned to Florida he sent a thank you note. But he made the serious mistake of addressing it to Mr. and Mrs. Blue, P.O. Box 371. Our mail box is 372. And although we are the only Blues that receive mail at the Encampment post office, and box 371 is right above our box, Mr. rules are rules returned it with a notation on the envelope that the addresses were unknown.
I attempted to discuss this with him (my friend had sent a copy of the returned envelope), and that was when I learned that he is also rude. He angrily put his finger on the wrong number of the envelope and told me, “no one named Blue receives mail in that box” and promptly retreated behind the barricade he constructed over the summer. I then did my best fourth grade imitation and called him a jerk. (There is much truth in that description.) I am willing to bet a great deal of money (not as much as Mitt) that there is not another post master in the United States that would not have put that envelope in box 372.
Oh, and one more thing. My daughter while visiting here found it necessary to mail some things back to Florida. Based on the post masters recommendation she chose large flat rate boxes for which she paid the proper fee. When she arrived back in Florida, she was notified buy the post there that the boxes could not be delivered because of insufficient postage meter but failed to use enough old stamps. So she had to pay to retrieve her already paid for boxes.
It is a shame that powers that be in the United States Postal Service see fit to burden Encampment/Riverside with this my way or the highway misfit. Any time two or more people get together in this community they begin telling “Wendell stories.” Many I have heard are far more serious than my trivial problem. But the point is Wendell D. O’Connell needs to change or USPS needs to share the misery and send him somewhere else to irritate people and deprive them of their mail.
Respectfully, John R. Blue
Encampment
Editor’s note: This letter has been edited for content.
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