My letter is not a criticism of the employees of the U.S. Postal Service, the carriers, window clerks, sorters and others who do the actual work of getting the mail delivered.

Over the years, I have come in contact with many of them and I have found them efficient, helpful and courteous and commendable and I do commend them. Something, however, must be wrong further up the line.

Consider the following:

A few winters ago, my wife and I and my in-laws were going to spend some time in our respective places in Florida. We filled out the proper forms notifying the USPS of our new addresses.

A couple of days after we arrived, I received a letter from the USPS welcoming us and stating that it had to increase the postage rate because of inroads made by the Internet. If I did not receive that letter (huh?), I should let it know via its Internet address, (double huh!), which appears at the end of the letter.

The next day, I received another copy of the same letter. The day after that, another copy. My in-laws also received three copies of the same letter.

Is it any wonder the Postal Service is losing money? Maybe it is being supportive of the paper manufacturers, and that would be a good thing (if the paper it uses for its letters is manufactured in this country).

Robert W. Vitolo

Waterville