A friend of mine who used to live in NY thought it was crazy how much work and time and money was spent sorting mail, loading into bags, put onto trucks and carts, and then delivered by humans and sorted again into individual mailboxes (e.g. in apartment buildings). Probably 80%+ of the material was junk mail that would be thrown away immediately.

I've lived in a few countries and there is a special simple pleasure in having a mailbox where (rarely, it's true) only "real" mail is deposited. The USPS should be renamed the United States Junk Mail Service as that seems to be their primary function.

I needed a first class stamp a few years ago in NY and I asked at the local newsagent if they sold them. The owner said yes, but they cost a few cents more than at the post office. I said "That's fine, it's worth it not to have to go there" and he said "That's what most people say."

The service I have received in e.g. French and Japanese post offices is an order of magnitude more polite and efficient than in the US. I don't know what is going on there, but the USPS is broken. I suppose that's what happens when one spends all day processing junk mail.