Lockbox

Running errands this morning, I drove over to a large post office and went through their drive-thru to drop a few letters and bills into the big mailbox they have outside for just such a purpose. I've mailed hundreds of pieces of mail that way over the years but today was different. Today, the big mailbox was padlocked closed…

I don't get this. Presumably, there's some way to mail a letter at a United States Post Office and if I go back there tomorrow when it's open, they will accept my gas bill and put it into whatever the system is that will eventually deliver it to the Gas Company. Why make me make another trip back here? Why couldn't I drop it off today as has been the norm at post offices for several hundred years?

I think Eric Levitz has the answer here: Destroying the U.S. Postal Service would help Donald Trump a lot in the upcoming election and also result in soaring profits for some of his wealthy donors. Either reason is reason enough for these people.