United States Postal Service, Seaside
1093 Broadway Ave., Seaside (800) 275-8777, usps.com
You go to the Seaside post office during Christmas, you better not be in a hurry. Everybody in town is already there. They are in line in front of you and quickly fill in behind you. It’s like café kaffeeklatsch meets melting pot meets town hall. The line moves briskly, but not so fast that you don’t get to catch up on politics and cars and kids. The clerks don’t just keep their cool but are unfailingly friendly and helpful. This in spite of the fact that they had to ask the same questions a couple hundred times before they see you that day. The Weekly is what you might call a heavy user of the USPS. The company sends out a couple hundred papers to subscribers every week and Bulk Rate Bob delivers. At the shop we get a daily visit from Red, our letter carrier. In any election – not just the Best of Monterey County – he would prevail as a populist and a pragmatist. The fella brings us checks(!), letters to the editor, and an endless stream of press releases and pleas for coverage. And he does it on time and with a smile. Who says government doesn’t work for the people?