Waiting For First Class Mail in Montana? Keep Waiting

I always thought being a Mailman would be a cool job.  I suppose I have to call them a "Letter Carrier" now since it's 2021, and Mailman might be considered insensitive.

Sure, there is the whole being in the element part of it, and here in Montana, we get a lot of snow. But those jeep-like things with the steering wheel on the other side looks like they'd be fun to drive.  Plus, you get to wear those spiffy uniforms, so that's kind of cool as well.

I don't have actual proof, but I'm guessing they're probably a lot of folks like me that do a whole lot of their business online, which would decrease the amount of mail, which is why I'm a little confused about what I'm getting ready to relay to you.

According to the United States Post Office website, some first-class mail may now take up to 5 days to reach its destination.  For years, the standard has been 1 to 3 days, and while they believe that a large majority of the mail will continue to be delivered in that time frame, they are giving themselves an extra couple of days.

One of the states it looks to effect the most, is Montana.  According to a map from the Washington Post, the Western States look like they will suffer the most from the changes, with some areas looking to add almost an entire day to the delivery time.

Here's my question, do we get a discount?  Or is the price going to remain the same?

I mean, and I'm not trying to cause a stink here, but isn't the whole selling point of first class mail the fact that you pay more so it gets there faster?  If what I am sending, or receiving takes longer, why would I want to pay the same price?

I realize that this isn't the Postal Carriers decision, nor should they be blamed or receive our frustration, They must continue to do their job and according to some local Montana Postal Workers, they're not really happy about these changes either according to the Billings Gazette.

I guess there isn't much we can do about it, other than make sure we are allowing for the proper amount of time when sending mail.  I tell you this much, though, it's almost enough to make you go postal.

Credit: Washington Post and Billings Gazette