Editor’s note: a sentence was inadvertently left off John Blue’s letter to the editor in the Aug. 13 edition of the Saratoga Sun. The Saratoga Sun staff apologizes for this error.
Editor,
This is sort of a combination letter to the editor and an open letter to Wendell 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 his job to educate the community to the rules of post office, and that is best accomplished by denying people the 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 a long time and that we are both old) visited here in 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 on 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, 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 by the post office there that the boxes could not be delivered because of insufficient postage. It was then that she learned that Mr. do it by the rules had used old stamps rather than use his 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
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