You know, every once in a while a silly idea comes along and you just have to jump on the occasion and make the most of it.

My wife came home on Monday and proceeded to tell me the latest about the new machine in the entrance foyer of the Oak Harbor Post Office. She came across it while checking for mail in a PO box.

Her description of the new contraption was quite flowery and dead-on accurate (since I just had to go and see for myself): bright, shiny and intimidating. While I was there, there was a confab of official looking persons gaggling about the new shiny thing, demonstrating it to themselves and discussing all sorts of important things that had to do with its operation. They seemed to be impressed with it.

Me, I could care less, but here is the rest of the story.

On Monday, while my wife was describing this latest replacement for a human being, the aforementioned silly idea just jumped into my head. Hallelujah! The post office has put in front of us the perfect trial balloon! We can test roundabouts before we install them.

If you go to the post office; you can see it — right there in the middle (sorta) of the lobby; there is plenty of room on all sides of it. We could paint a traffic (well, pedestrian anyway) roundabout around the machine, with exits appropriately marked for: 1. Service, 2. Outgoing, 3. Boxes 1 through 100, 4. Boxes above 100 and 5. Exit. We could also up the ante on this by having an exit to the middle to use the new machine. There is plenty of room on the walls to post advisory signs as to proper etiquette while in the roundabout, especially if you happen to be second in line for the new machine. If you have to go into a holding pattern going round and round until it’s your turn to be the “pivot person,” you’ll know exactly what to do to keep from embarrassing yourself.

What a deal! I’ll bet the post office folks at the desk will love to hear your comments on the new traffic patterns and flows. Maybe we could even talk them into keeping a feedback form on-hand that they can review for their own use and then forward on to city hall (for a measly 37 cents) for their use. Heck, we’re slaying birds by the droves here, not just one or two.

You know, this just might provide enough feedback that the city council won’t hire another consultant. Imagine that.

Scott Smith

Oak Harbor