 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Busiest day a smooth one at post office
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- What was billed as the busiest shipping day of the year in many areas didn't overwhelm Dade City's postal crew Monday. Postmaster Jeff Alston described demand as steady, but not unexpected. Four windows were open through the day, with a line about 10 deep. Despite the influx of packages bound for all parts of the country, the line moved quickly. Even Valerie Pease, who showed up with presents wrapped in Christmas paper -- but no box to ship them in -- got in and out in fewer than 15 minutes. Standing in line, Pease examined the available boxes for sale hanging from the post office wall. "I'm looking at these boxes, and I don't think they're big enough," she said with a worried expression. Postal clerk Russell Thomas had her gifts safely tucked into the white boxes and bound for Seattle in minutes. Pease emerged with a smile. "I'm finished," she said. "Done. That's all I had to ship." Pease was among scores of gift-givers out to mail holiday packages Monday, the busiest day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service. Post offices nationwide took in an estimated 850-million pieces of mail Monday, and much of it will arrive Wednesday -- the busiest delivery day of the year, said postal spokesman Gary Sawtelle. Just ahead of Pease, Sharon Cathcart had a choice to make: parcel post or priority mail. "I took no chances," she said. "It's for the grandkids. Priority mail." Along with the usual stash of toys for the grandchildren in Illinois, Cathcart included a holiday gift for her son: boxer shorts. "It's a tradition," she explained. "When you're a mom, you can get away with that." Postmaster Alston said the usual recommendations apply for shipping from the Dade City post office, but with one twist. "We see a lot of old addresses," he said. When the county changed addresses years ago to meet the demands of the 911 emergency system, many people never corrected their address books. "Especially with cards, this is the only time of year some people correspond," Alston said. "They go digging into those old address books, and it's the wrong address. It helps us deliver the mail on time if people double-check their addresses." Janet Bishop of Spring Hill lugged two boxes, one large and one small, and a padded envelope from her sport utility vehicle to the door of the Land O'Lakes post office. She emerged 12 minutes later $24 lighter for priority mail shipping to New York and Arizona. "I'm not happy," Bishop said scanning the white shipping receipt. "But I was afraid not to do priority so close to Christmas." Traffic was steady all day Monday, but lines never spilled out the door in Land O'Lakes. Postmaster William Ragan kept all three counters open, altered his collectable stamp kiosk to accept Christmas parcels and assigned an employee to help people with packages as they struggled through the door. "We've had a line almost to the door several times," Ragan said Monday afternoon before the expected after-work rush. "Everybody had all weekend long to wrap their stuff up." Spokesman Sawtelle had some tips for people headed off the post office. First, get your ZIP codes ahead of time. If you're unsure of the ZIP code, you can look it up online at www.usps.com. Second, he suggests senders put their name and address on a slip of paper inside their packages, as well as on the outside. That way, if the outside addresses get torn or smeared, postal workers will, at least, be able to return the goodies. Michelle Miller, nine months' pregnant, was the last person in line at the Embassy Plaza Post Office in New Port Richey. Thirty-nine other people were ahead of her, but it wasn't the 45-minute wait that had the expectant mom's knees knocked. Her concern was more practical: Where's the bathroom? Due in five days, Miller had already been to the bathroom four times in the previous three hours. "You just have to take a deep breath and relax," said Michelle's mom, Claire Miller. "You have to have a happy attitude." And strong feet. "I actually don't mind standing," said Miller, rubbing her bulging belly. "It's really hard for me to breathe lying down." -- Staff writers Kent Fischer, Chase Squires and James Thorner contributed to this report.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
