Friday, April 16, 1999
Post office at midnight: Time to party
The Associated Press and The Cincinnati Enquirer
As much as Americans despise paying taxes, Thursday brought music and back rubs to the nation's post offices, along with a spirit of camaraderie among last-minute filers jammed into lines.
“I got it done. I've just got to figure out where to send the money that I owe,” said 21-year-old Steve MacIntyre as he rooted through a mountain of forms at Boston's main post office.
His paperwork was creased and grubby from being in the back pocket of his jeans.
“Aargh! No envelopes!” he shouted, pounding the wall.
Mr. MacIntyre's was one of 126 million tax returns the Internal Revenue Service expected to receive this year. The agency said it had already received more than half by late last month.
It was the procrastinators, the forgetful and the flummoxed who took in the festive atmosphere at the nation's mailrooms on the final day of filing. Some post offices were open as late as midnight, with parties until closing time.
As midnight approached Thursday in Cincinnati's Queensgate neighborhood, a line of more than 50 cars snaked for several blocks from Interstate 75 to the Dalton Street Post Office.
“It's a normal IRS day. It's been crazy,” said postal employee Susie Luken, one of eight stationed at two locations near the post office.
Ms. Luken said there had been a steady stream of cars since the workers went outside about 3:30 p.m.
“There's been more mail than we know what to do with,” she said. “We even had someone filling out his tax form as he was waiting in line.”
Bob Brewster, 62, of College Hill, thought he had avoided the last-minute rush when he mailed his taxes earlier Thursday. But when he got home, he found out his two daughters, ages 23 and 26 “and old enough to know better,” hadn't mailed their returns.
He and his wife helped them finish and drove to Cincinnati's main post office as midnight neared.
In Boston's main post office Thursday, a pianist was set to play. Outside, an actress dressed as Mother Nature was hired by a vitamin company to hand out free packets of kava root, which is supposed to ease stress.
About 3,000 miles away, a Seattle radio station sent an anti-tax message by re-enacting the Boston Tea Party on an old sailing ship.
Other post offices around the country tried to rub out the anxiety of tax filing with free back and neck massages.
Enquirer reporter William A. Weathers contributed to this story.
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Post office at midnight: Time to party
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