Sharon Williams

Monroe Postmaster Sharon Williams puts the mail increase in the billions nationwide and compared Dec. 15, the busiest day of the busiest month, to what retailers experience the day after Thanksgiving.

"For us, December 15th is like a Black Monday," Williams said.

To meet Monday's flood, the post office at 501 Sterlington Road will staff five stations in expectation of some 250 customers.

Williams encouraged customers who don't want to stand in line to go online at USPS.com. On the Web site, customers can enter the weight of packages and print labels from the comfort of their own home. Packages can then be picked up free of any additional charge when the postal carrier comes by on rounds. The "Click-N-Ship" option also gives customers free delivery confirmation.

"These are services that are available all year long, but we're emphasizing them now to free up traffic inside our post offices and prevent long lines," Williams said. She also advised customers to make sure addresses are legible and packages are sealed to cut down on the waiting.

Monroe acting postmaster Sharon Williams said customers should begin mailing Christmas packages as soon as possible to make sure they're delivered by Christmas.

Sharon Williams

Last year, acting postmaster Sharon Williams said, the Postal Service attempted to create a contracted postal unit in southeastern Ouachita Parish with local businesses that would provide some services such as postal stamp sales.

Monroe acting postmaster Sharon Williams said the Postal Service has already looked at the creation of a contracted postal unit in southeastern Ouachita Parish.

In those cases, the Postal Service contracts with an existing business to provide basic services such as stamp postage sales — however, they do not provide mail boxes.

"We checked into providing a CPU (in southeastern Ouachita Parish) last year, and no business wanted it," Williams said.

The Postal Service had two CPU's in southern Monroe, but those were closed, Williams said. Postal Service customers are referred to the Post Office branch in the federal building.

The only other way to get a classified postal branch in the area that would be operated by Postal Service employees would be to apply to the agency's district office in New Orleans and get approval from the Postal Service's Board of Governors in Washington.

However, there are no immediate plans by the Postal Service to build new post offices, Williams said.

"Nobody wants a CPU and the Board of Governor's isn't building any classified stations, so we're at a standstill right now," Williams said.

Marketing Research Analyst, Sharon Williams

Postmaster Sharon Williams will be cheering from home when her son Aaron and the rest of the Nets battle the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
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"It's pretty amazing," Sharon said."Sometimes I sit here and watch on TV and say, ‘That's my son out there.' It's all I keep saying, ‘I can't believe it.They're going to the Finals.'æ"

The difference between a suburban post office and the NBA's brightest stage might seem extreme.But the methods that mother and son used to get where they are today are virtual mirror images.

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Sharon, a divorced mother of two sons, moved from Evanston to Rolling Meadows in 1984 hoping to find a better life and better education for her family.She delivered mail for 13 years -- sometimes showing up at the high school gym still wearing her postal uniform -- before landing a series of promotions that brought her to the Mount Prospect branch.

"Aaron worked hard to get where he's at," said his younger brother John, who lives in Fullerton, Calif., and owns a company that makes business and computer cases.

"He was from a working family.Our mom got up at 3 a.m. to go to work, came home tired and still made dinner and put us to bed. All the while dealing with two rowdy boys.That probably has a lot to do with where we are today."

Forget the NBA Finals.Just getting to the NBA from the Chicago suburbs is a longshot.
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"I couldn't afford health insurance, so I didn't want them to play sports," Sharon said."I felt really bad about that.Then I went back to the post office."

In the meantime, the family's clothing budget needed some attention.
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"On the road, he doesn't go to clubs," Sharon said."He goes to the malls and buys clothes for his daughters.He can spend hours doing that."

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"I'm proud of him because he's never given up," Sharon said."He never got discouraged.Maybe if he had been drafted, it would have been too easy.Maybe he wouldn't have worked this hard."