RANDOM THOUGHTS
by Roger Condit
TALK IS CHEAP
Writing letters is tedious, time consuming and a leading cause for procrastination.
For years, writing letters was a common way to keep in touch with dear ones across the country. Because of the negative influence above, however, the postman never was overburdened carrying first class mail.
Of course the telephone is also a way to keep in touch. But until deregulation of AT&T in the eighties, long distance calling was expensive. The cost depended on the mileage of the call, the time when the call was placed and of course, how long you chatted.
All that has changed. We're contacted every day by long distance carriers who offer lower rates. It's a fiercely competitive, multi-billion dollar business using innovative flexible glass, fiber optic circuits about the size of a human hair to carry our chatter. Ten thousand of these circuits can be contained in a small cable. They crisscross the nation in numbers far in excess of what is currently needed. They are virtually maintenance free and hardly wear out.
The latest
long distance proposal I got was from a carrier who offered a rate of 9 cents a minute
with a 3 minute minimum, anywhere in the country and 24 hours a day.
As long distance rates go down, postage rates go up. When I was a kid, it cost 3 cents to mail a letter anywhere in the US (2 cents in town). Mail was delivered twice a day by shanks' mare. Since then, postage rates have climbed periodically and service has diminished. The current rate of 32 cents a stamp is again being considered for a hike. These periodic raises are inevitable. The Postal Service as we know it today is obsolescent. Here's why.
The Service no longer receives any tax subsidy for operations. With each rate hike they lose business. And with the loss of business, they lose revenue but must continue to operate at a loss. The only answer: Raise the cost of stamps again.
What is the significance of all this? For me, I can call my contentious cousin in Crooked Creek, California and talk for three minutes for less than the cost of a stamp. No pen, no paper, no envelope. No editing, no waiting for a reply and best of all, no procrastination. I just pick up the phone, punch his recorded number and in a few minutes I'm through with it. And if he's still contentious, cut it short.
The Postal Service will continue to send me bills which I never was in a hurry to get. They will continue sending me junk mail which I will flip in the recycle bag. And they will have their hands full competing with UPS and FEDEX. But as for writing letters ... why should I when talk is cheap?
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Published December 1998, Alabama
Prime Times
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