No Mail for a Month

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29 DAYS WITHOUT REGULAR MAIL SERVICE 

Today’s date is 12/1/20. The last time we received USPS regular mail delivery was 11/3/20. “Regular mail delivery” to ourselves and our neighbors was sporadic at best before this month long dearth of mail. The best we had was 3-4 days a week of constant delivery. This month, however, the mail service has gone from annoying into inconvenience, And can now be considered downright perilous. In November, my family was quarantined due to having COVID, so I could not go to the Post Office. I am also in my 3rd trimester, and the CDC recommends avoiding public spaces like the Post Office. I know many are in a situation like myself- unable to go to the post office, and unable to get a hold of anyone over the phone or email. Over the past few weeks, every time I picked up the phone to call someone about this, filled out a "Contact Us!" form or sent an e-mail, I felt a desperate call to action. 

A week after not receiving mail, I did what the USPS website said to do: I used their "contact us" form. When I got an email back saying, "Congratulations! Your issue has been resolved!" It was very much not resolved, so I started doing a bit more digging, finding the Post Master's phone number, which yielded no response. After another week with no mail, no "resolution," I reached out to Representative Schakowsky's office. I did quickly receive a response to that communication- but it was more "reasons" why we aren't receiving mail and no resolutions, almost a month later. The fact that I am pregnant during this pandemic means I won’t stand in line for an hour at the Roger’s Park post office to receive a small portion of my mail.

When it became clear that my neighbors and I were not going to see our mail any time soon, and no one was doing anything about it- I reached out to the media. 

We are now seeing some work being done regarding this issue, but I'm now concerned that what we were told will happen won't. This blog will act as a record of what has happened, what was said will happen, and what does happen. I also have information I would like to keep track of and share. 

We have a semi-regular mail carrier, a nice woman who seems good at her job when it happens. I hope through this work we can get back to having mail as a federal, constitutional right. 

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