Christmas Rush Hits Local Post Offices

Last-minute customers--with armfuls of parcels and Christmas cards in brightly decorated envelopes--crowded local post offices Monday as postal officials braced themselves for what is typically the busiest single day of the year in terms of volume.

“We’ve been busy all day long,” said Tom Hellmuth, customer service manager for Ventura’s main post office, who added that staffing was increased to accommodate the throng.

A post office in east Ventura near Buena High School was open Sunday, as it will be on Christmas Eve, so customers could mail packages for the holidays, Hellmuth said.

The main Oxnard post office, which also was open over the weekend, was again busy with an onslaught of customers on Monday, said Oxnard Postmaster Ray Chavira.

“We have been extremely busy all day Sunday and Monday,” Chavira said. “We’ve had a lot of people mailing lots of packages. We have all stations open, and there is still at least a 10-minute wait in line.”

Across the county, Norma Uman entered the main Thousand Oaks post office at about 12:30 p.m. Monday with a Christmas package for her grandchildren, when she saw the line. About three dozen people were already waiting, many with holiday presents to send to loved ones across the country.

“I should have brought my sleeping bag,” Uman joked.

And the wait wasn’t just for those inside. It started in the parking lot, where at least half a dozen others waited in their cars until spaces opened up.

But with the holiday less than a week away, people showed extra patience.

“The line is pretty ridiculous, but it’s that time of year, and if I waited this long to mail it then that’s what I should expect,” said 40-year-old Liz Vass of Thousand Oaks, who was mailing a gift basket to her sister in Idaho.

Vass may have been patient, but she said she did peer to the front of the line once she entered the building. “I was looking to see if I had any friends up there,” she said with a smile.

Laura Nary of Thousand Oaks said she didn’t mind the long lines. With lots of family in Virginia, she just wanted her Christmas gifts to get there in time.

“I think I’m cutting it pretty close because we only have a week,” she said. “I just couldn’t get things ready before today.

“Some people are more advanced planners, but that’s the minority.”