10: Berkeley Post Office on Tax Day, April 16, 1999

Money find in 1969 Philly.

10.

Published news story, Post office scene: ‘Regular mail or taxes?’ by Lurene Helzer for Berkeley Daily Planet, page one, April 16, 1999. Story is still fun to remember because Americans of all varieties come out of the closet for federal tax day, which is April 15. You just stand around a city’s main post office for a few hours and return to the newsroom with something pretty entertaining for next day’s issue. Of course, taxes are normally not described as entertaining to collect, most people the world over would agree:

By 9:15 p.m. there was a faster-moving line of people. “The rush has not even arrived,” he said. “Every year, people will wait until 11:45 and flock to the post office.”

It was a nice evening in Berkeley on the dreaded April 15, 68 degrees, light winds of 7 mph.

There were a lot of cars with couples.

“Maybe it’s a night out for them. They come in groups, too,” said Roberson.

Some seem to consider April 15 a family event. One sports utility vehicle went by. A woman with a happily panting dog was in the passenger’s seat and the kids were in the back. A man was driving. They were all laughing.

At nearly 10 p.m., one guy steps up to Roberson. He looks fatigued, slightly shaken. He asks where he can get tax forms.

Another woman wants to give postal workers her envelopes from her sunroof, and as one worker tries to take them, she snatches them back into her car. She holds them out again, the worker reaches out, and she snatches them back again. The worker throws up his hands.

Roberson shrugs his shoulders. “It’s kind of frustrating sometimes.”

There are a few people using the stream of people as a political opportunity. They were giving out flyers for an upcoming protest against the NATO airstrikes in Yugoslavia.

One man stood around on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Tony Spaulding of Los Angeles, an engineer visiting town.

Just about every year, he stands out on April 15 at a post office. He’s performed the vigil in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. This year it is Berkeley.

“Only once a year do we all get down on our hands and knees and give royalty to the king,” he quipped.