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Patrons of Berkeley’s main post office are used to waiting. For years, customers have sat on benches or strolled along nearby blocks killing time until their number was called. 

But for several, their patience ran out last November when the post office’s pick-a-number dispenser system broke down. Post office officials responded by instituting a formal line, forcing customers to wait inside and on their feet. 

“For me standing is painful,” said Ardys DeLu, who suffers from a foot ailment. Her job requires frequent trips to the downtown post office to send and receives packages for her employer. The recent change in the post office waiting policy has made the job harder, she said. 

DeLu didn’t get much sympathy when she informed postal workers at the main branch of her condition. “They told me to call my congressman,” she said. 

Instead DeLu joined a coalition of elderly and disabled patrons, and a few allies, who wouldn’t stand for standing in line at the post office. 

Now, after standing their ground, they have carried the day. 

“The postmaster got so many complaints from customers he ordered a new system,” said U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Gus Ruiz. The new system, which private companies list for about $600, is expected to be installed within two weeks, he added. 

DeLu, however, isn’t claiming victory just yet. “I’m 55, I’ve learned a lot of things about public agencies,” she said. 

The line remained in effect Friday. 

Most post offices don’t have pick-a-number systems, said Ruiz, adding that the decision about how customers wait for service rested with the individual postmaster. 

The Solano Avenue branch shelved its number system after it malfunctioned.  

The elderly and disabled were not the only patrons pushing for a return to the number system. Barbara Wilke, a post office patron, wrote in an email that her sensitivities to fragrances often required her to wait outside. 

“The bigger the crowd, the harder it is for me to breath,” she wrote. 

For Hannah Karpilow, the line at the main branch is an inconvenience, not a health hazard. “I would prefer to sit outside in the fresh air or if I’m really busy go run an errand,” she said. 

In addition to restoring the pick-a-number system, new Berkeley Postmaster Ralph Cherry, in an email to City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, promised to hire new mail clerks to reduce service delays. 

On Friday afternoon, during the lunch hour, patrons standing in line waited about 10 minutes to reach the clerk. Among those waiting was 90-year-old Eugene Sharee, who wasn’t too bothered by having to stand. 

“It’s just a matter of life you come to expect,” he said. “You have to stand in line sometimes.” 

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