Last week, I attended a public-input meeting that United States Postal Service (USPS) officials hosted at the Expo building about the recent closure of the Bixby Knolls post office. I was surprised that so many people turned out (I counted 100 people), and I sympathized with those residents who took the mic to share their stories of frustration and desperation. Many of them are elderly, and some of them depend on public transportation to get where they need to go. It’s been difficult for them to travel farther to mail their packages or even to just locate one of the post offices that the USPS has suggested as an alternative— the Market Street location.
Other folks in the meeting lamented: no drive-up collection box at the Market Street location; limited handicapped-accessible parking there; limited parking, in general, at that post office; graffiti on the wall there; a city-bus driver not knowing the whereabouts of the Market Street location; whether the Market Street location is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; mail not being delivered; and the Market Street office not being open on weekends.
Of course, I view all these concerns as valid ones, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve taken it upon myself to write two news stories about the Bixby Knolls post office closing; I want to make sure these residents are kept abreast what is going on and that they know how to express their concerns to the proper officials. I think about my grandmother, who lives in Mississippi, and the fact that she’s very reliant on the postal service. She has never used email. She barely understands what Facebook is. She’s probably never heard of Skype. And she’s never going to pay her bills online.
I’m sure many of those at last week’s meeting are in a similar boat— they rely on the USPS for a post-office box, to send out their newsletters, to ship the items they’re selling for their small business or to just mailÂÂ birthday cards to grandkids.
Having said that, there was something uttered during that event that I found off-putting. It would have been unsettling enough had it been stated by one person, but it was actually voiced by two individuals: “Bixby Knolls deserves a nice post office.”
As soon as I heard it, I thought, “Well, which neighborhoods don’t deserve a nice post office?”
I happen to live in Bixby Knolls, and I’m very much looking forward to having that convenient access that a very close post office will again provide. Since I live far from my family, I primarily use the USPS to mail gifts to my aforementioned grandmother, my dad and stepmom, my sisters, nieces, nephews and friends. I hope we do indeed get a “nice” post office that isn’t adorned with graffiti. However, why would I deserve a better post office than John Doe, who happens to live in a different part of town? The logic of that sentiment is lost on me.
Is there something about living in a certain area that makes one feel entitled?
Personally, I believe that the single mom raising three kids who lives downtown deserves to feel safe when she mails out the items she sold on eBay. I think the college student who lives off campus deserves to have a post office that is clean and well staffed. And I believe that the handicapped Vietnam veteran residing in north Long Beach deserves a post office that is easily accessible to him.
We all deserve a nice post office. 
The Bixby Knolls post office closed its doors on Friday, Feb. 13. United States Post Service officials expect a new office to be opened by mid summer.
