Postal Service slammed with Valentines

By CAMDEN EASTERLING Chronicle Staff Writer

While Valentine's Day may mean roses, candy and jewelry for some, it means something else for U.S. Postal Service workers -- overtime.

"Valentine's Day is almost as bad as Christmas, and people probably wouldn't expect that," said Lacey Heinecke, delivery supervisor at Bozeman's Babcock Street post office.

That means many postal carriers are putting in extra time carting cards and packages to homes and businesses, while mail clerks are hit with long lines of people sending Valentine's goodies.

The average postal worker is working about 90 minutes overtime for a few days on both ends of the holiday, Heinecke said.

On Monday, 62,000 cards and letters had to be delivered on Bozeman city and rural delivery routes -- about 10,000 more than normal, she said. And many of them are due to Valentine's Day.

But the festive mail isn't restricted to correspondence. On Monday morning the Babcock post office had 24 percent more parcels to deliver than it did a week ago.

The lucky recipients of many of those packages are Montana State University students.

The Postal Service's MSU delivery route typically takes about one hour, but on Monday it took about three times as long.

The two-ton delivery truck was filled to "full capacity this morning," Heinecke said.

Between 70 and 100 packages destined for students were piled up by the North Hedges dorm's mailboxes, Maureen Parsons, program assistant in the dorm, said Monday.

Students are eager for the boxes of gifts and candy, so eager in fact that most of them can't wait to inspect the contents of their packages.

"They usually just rip them open right at my desk," Parsons said.

And parents take note: Valentine's Day packages have been known to spark jealousy between roommates who receive homemade cookies and those who are left empty-handed, Parsons said.

Valentine's Day ranks behind Christmas as the most popular holiday or event for sending cards, according to the Greeting Card Association, an international group of card publishers and suppliers.

Americans will exchange 190 million Valentines this year, not including those that children exchange at school parties.

If all of this isn't enough to wear out the mail delivery people, there's President's Day.

Many companies send out advertisements for President's Day sales the week before the holiday, which is Feb. 20, Heinecke said.

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