Post Office Screws Soldiers

washingtontimes ^ | August 19, 2003 | OP/ED

[Bobibutu]

Frankie Mayo has a mission

[Bobibutu]

Post Office Screws Soldiers


Operation Red Tape - The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED
This is crazy. After allowing 425 air conditioners to be sent to soldiers in Iraq, the Post Office suddenly called a halt to it because they have freon in them. Duh. You can contact the post office via email here or at the number in the excerpt. Idiots.
Frankie Mayo has a mission — to cool the air for as many U.S. soldiers in Iraq as she can by sending them as many as air conditioners as she can lay her hands on. What started with a single air conditioner sent to her son at the end of June has grown into Operation Air Conditioner, with tons of units being sent to the troops. It is more than just providing them a touch of comfort or a taste of home, it is about helping them avoid heatstroke and providing them comfortable sleeping conditions. But, Mrs. Mayo had 302 new air conditioners waiting to go on Friday, when the U.S. Postal Service pulled the plug.





Local and regional postal representatives ducked our inquiries yesterday. But at 4:50 Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mayo was told by a bureaucrat in an air-conditioned office at Delaware's Wilmington Distribution Center that it would no longer ship the air conditioners because they contain freon, which is listed as a class 2 compressed gas.




Postmaster General John Potter ought to be alerted to this by phone (202/268-2020), fax (202/268-5211) or e-mail (www.usps.com/common/contact_us/ and click on consumer feedback).




The USPS is incredibly belated in its sudden discovery. After all, Mrs. Mayo had already sent 425 air conditioners to the long-suffering soldiers with nary a comment, much less a holdup. Neither the blue-suits in USPS headquarters in Washington nor the brass at the Pentagon had complained. In fact, soldiers have been deluging Mrs. Mayo with requests.

[Dick Steele]

Was it Jefferson who was afraid that BEAUROCRACY would turn this into a nation of a million 'petty tyrants'?

This whole story just makes my blood BOIL, total 'petty tyrant' BULLSHIT!

It's 130 degrees in the shade over there...and this *sswipe is PRETENDING to misunderstand the regs, preventing our troops from recieving some A/C...

I know we have laws about 'giving aid & comfort to the ENEMY'; what do we call someone who is DENYING 'aid & comfort' to OUR troops?

[Dick Steele]

Was it Jefferson who was afraid that BEAUROCRACY would turn this into a nation of a million 'petty tyrants'?

This whole story just makes my blood BOIL, total 'petty tyrant' BULLSHIT!

It's 130 degrees in the shade over there...and this *sswipe is PRETENDING to misunderstand the regs, preventing our troops from recieving some A/C...

I know we have laws about 'giving aid & comfort to the ENEMY'; But what do we call someone who is DENYING 'aid & comfort' to OUR troops?

[rockfish59]

Well after all, isn't freon & global warming the major cause of the heat?
The EPA will tell them to just raise the rates!

[Gaelic]

From what I understand, Freon is no longer used in refridgeration and airconditioning. It's outlawed by the RPA. Try and get a Freon charge for a vintage car's airconditioner or any other old airconditioner. Some repair outfits bleed off Freon from old and discarded applainces and save it just for these old but good applainces.

[rockfish59]

Yep, I believe it's outlawed. We were just talking about it yesterday.
I hear that it can sell for quite a bit if you can find it.

It's the old appliance equivalent to 'crack' I suppose!

[Mo1]

From what I understand, Freon is no longer used in refridgeration and airconditioning. It's outlawed by the RPA.

I'm not sure if it has been outlawed .. I think there are very heavey restrictions and very expensive .. I could be wrong though.

With that said, I don't understand why certain arrangements couldn't be worked out to help these soldiers get the a/c's delievered to them ..

[Archangelsk]

I suppose if Halliburton's sub-division, Kellogg, Root and Brown, was doing their job then this would be a non issue, but, you know, when sensitive people get ahold of something it becomes all emotional and what not.