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opinion:
our view
U.S. drops ball
in postal worker's case
Has there ever been a more-maligned occupation than the postal
worker?
You know the stereotype:
a dimwitted, lazy oaf doing a piss-poor job of delivering
or sorting mail.
For years, postal workers have been the butt of numerous jokes
and stories, ranging from shootings in the workplace to mishandled
mail.
Now postal workers are being discussed for completely different
reasons ? and there are no laughs associated with this situation.
Two Washington, D.C. postal clerks have died and a third postal
worker from New Jersey is ill from exposure to anthrax ? presumably
from the tainted letters sent to Congress and several new
organizations last week ? and the fear is more postal workers
could have contracted the virus.
Shocking developments furthered the situation Tuesday when
reports the Brentwood, N.J. mail facility, believed to be
the source of the letter, had employees that were not originally
tested for
anthrax by federal health authorities.
Both the White House and Center for Disease Control and Prevention
have defended these actions.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The president
believes the cause of deaths was not the treatment made by
the federal government or the local officials, or anyone else,
but the cause of death was the attack made on our nation by
people mailing anthrax."
CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey Koplan said, "We had had no
cases of inhalation anthrax in a mail sorting facility. There
was no reason to think this was a possibility.''
Almost as a concession, Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson said if more tainted letters are found, postal
workers would be aggressively tested and treated.
Do you think the federal government waited to test its own
when finding the tainted letters? Of course not.
This is not to say that those in power shouldn't have been
tested, rather everyone involved should have been tested and
treated immediately with no excuses.
Whatever you think of postal workers should play no part in
what is happening now. Two have died and most certainly more
will perish.
Think about it, people just trying to do a job to support
themselves or a family dying for absolutely no reason. This
is no less a tragedy than the Sept. 11 attacks, and these
victims are no less important.
All postal workers will now have an extra burden on their
shoulder besides a 35-pound bag loaded with mail. They now
have to carry the though2t that every letter they come in
contact with could kill them.
Think about it the next time you consider telling a postal
joke or besmirching your mail carrier. While these people
may not be doctors or lawyers or politicians, that doesn't
mean they deserve to die without a thought.
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