The Postal Service is one of the nation’s greatest strengths, according to a recent New York Times column.
The essay by Turkish-born writer Zeynep Tufekci praises the Postal Service’s role in facilitating innovation in the United States.
“Much of our modern economy thrives here because you can order things online and expect them to be delivered,” she writes.
Tufekci also recalls her positive early encounters with the Postal Service as an international student, as well as her fascination at learning the range of free services provided by USPS.
For example, Tufekci’s friends in Turkey didn’t believe her tales of standardized postage rates, buying stamps with ease and being able to visit a Post Office to request a passport.
Additionally, the writer remembers wondering why so many Americans raise the flags on their mailboxes.
She assumed patriotic citizens raised the flags to celebrate national holidays. To her amazement, she learned a raised flag meant there was mail to be picked up.
“Yes, I was told, in the United States, mail gets picked up from your house, six days a week, free of charge,” Tufekci writes.