Why blame USPS? | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It is perplexing that in this era of budgetary restrictions and shrinking newspapers, The Tribune would devote almost two full columns of space to one individual's bizarre rant against the U.S. Postal Service ("What the Postal Service did to my Aunt Mabel," Opinion, March 10).

While the circumstances of Sylvia Kronstadt's aunt were a tragic ending to what was most likely an otherwise productive and happy life, the blame Kronstadt sets upon the USPS was misdirected at best and inflammatory at worst. Does she really have the expectation that it is the duty of a mail carrier to contact a federal marshal to ensure the delivery of a piece of certified mail? Really?

Rather than "researching her case" and contacting "the office of the U.S. Postmaster General," perhaps Kronstadt could have expended the energy to actually visit her aunt in South Carolina, delivering the document in person.

In my experience, institutionalized elderly people appreciate personal contact above all else. While the care of the aging population of the United States certainly needs improvement and warrants extensive discussion, a call to action against the Postal Service is hardly the answer.

Scott Zuckerman

Park City