A federal postal strike sure makes you think about the physical mail that still comes to your home or work. What does the lack of postal service mean, and how can you get around relying on that service, in the short term and perhaps permanently, once you revise your systems and gain a new habit?
Suddenly getting your electricity cut off or other services due to being delinquent for not paying the bill you did not realize you did not get can be an inconvenience for busy people, causing potential resentment.
Big Municipality signs reminding you that there is no excuse for not paying your property taxes can help. Otherwise, year-end, holidays, company coming and other distractions can result in missing a responsibility where you cannot use any excuses.
This strike reminded me of the historic strike of the New York elevator operators, which paved the way for automated elevators.
Before then, people were afraid of the automation. The strike drove their mass adoption. Hey elevator operators, you got a short-term gain for a long-term pain. Maybe strikes are what happens just before something becomes obsolete, makes you wonder. There just may not be as much money floating into the postal coffers. I am, gratefully, no Elon Musk (even he vociferously agrees we do not want to be him), but the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) appeals to me.
Or, in terms of recent memory, the Pandemic affected a few basic services and got the Courts and lawyers to start using videoconferencing for non-contentious discovery and court proceedings, for example. It took days, but otherwise would have taken years, I am sure. Given some regression of late, I am VERY sure. Old habits die hard, even if access to justice desperately needs innovation. But if I can get all my mail or pay my bills more reliably, I don’t see going back. I rarely write a cheque unless I have to, home or work.
Remember the 1988 move You’ve Got Mail? This is not to be confused with the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally... and that famous scene (you know the one I am talking, or not talking, about). I did not realize these two Meg Ryan movies were actually two different movies (not a rom/com fan, they all look the same to me) but glad the lawyer in me checks my citations. In You’ve Got Mail, there were many scenes where “You’ve got mail!” kept popping up in relation to an internet romance. We’d have to shoot ourselves if that still happened in our real lives, much less in a movie you paid to see.
To simplify life, I dedicate this time of year to unsubscribing to every electronic mailing list and blocking everything going into the electronic trash I can (we lawyers still should pay attention to the electronic trash, unfortunately). Just because you can send mass emails easily and use AI to write them quickly does NOT mean you should. In fact, you shouldn’t.
On the flip-side, this year I had to also think of any “real” mail I could still convert to email or other electronic system, where I had not got around to it, so the strike would not cause a problem. At home, all I really have left is junk mail, the government, financial institutes, insurance companies and photo radar. Except for junk mail, and some aspects of the government, I think I can opt for electronic and mostly have, down to about three pieces of paper mail a week. If public service mail were my business, I would figure out how to make money at Christmas with all the packages, and not discourage my customers, but Canada Post has been around for more years than me, so who am I to comment. Here’s wishing this is still an essential service well.
Donna Purcell, KC, (aka Lady Justice) is an Alberta lawyer and Chief Innovation Officer with Donna Purcell QC Law. If you have legal questions, contact dpurcell@dpqclaw.com.