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Not too long ago the postmaster raised the price of first class postage, again. I remember when the postage rates were raised so infrequently that I couldn’t remember the last time they were raised. Now, I have food in my refrigerator that have lasted longer than the last postal rates.

Lately, there has been talk that the Postmaster General wants to reduce postal service from 6 days per week to 5 days per week, in an effort to save money.

One day, I was at my local post office to mail a letter (I ran out of stamps at the time). The postal clerk asked me if I wanted the regular [generic] design or the floral designed stamps. I told her to give me the stamp that would get my letter there the fastest. She said that no matter the design of the stamp, it all gets there at the same time. Of course, I knew that but I was trying to make a point.

This is an uptapped source of revenue for the post office. Why do they make stamps in various pretty designs? Obviously, because people want them. According to the USPS.com website there are 10 different designs of these first class stamps. So, I guess a lot of people want them.

I’m sure the design, production and distribution of these stamps cost the post office something. Just the fact that the clerk took her time to ask me my preference of stamps, resulting in a longer service time and keeping the people behind me waiting longer than if we didn’t engage in this conversation. Sure it was brief but every minute counts in service when there are 10 people waiting.

So here’s my suggestion; Surcharge the pretty designer stamps. If people want them so badly then they should pay extra for them. In an era of email and social networking communication which is simply text on a computer screen, pretty doesn’t seem that important when sharing information. More information is traveling through the internet everyday. Companies are even giving us choices to have our monthly bills sent to us electronically rather than by regular, snail mail. Less income for the post office

So, postmaster, stop raising fees for everyone and start charging those people that absolutely have to have the variety. To those that think the outside envelope is more important than its contents. It may not be the total answer to the postal financial crisis but it may buy the rest of us time between rate increases.