The negative reaction of Harmony officials and residents to the United States Postal Service's plan to close the borough's post office is understandable. The general consensus is that the action will cause inconvenience — it will, for some people — and then there's the matter of the community losing a piece of the town's history.

Unfortunately, times change, and Harmony is one of many small communities across the nation likely to feel the sting of postal cutbacks in the months and years ahead. Such cutbacks are a product of rising costs, the continuing revenue declines caused by the growth of Internet communication, and competition from package-delivery companies.

It can't be said that the decision is wrong from the standpoint of streamlining operations. And, the postal service said there also were space issues involved in its decision.

Still, Harmony officials and residents are justified in being upset over the way the postal service handled the decision. Apparently federal postal officials provided no advance notice that the closing was being considered, announcing the decision only after it was final.

There were no contacts with the community about possible ways of saving money that might have resulted in a reversal of the decision. And, there has been no indication of any behind-the-scenes discussions about the possibility of combining the Harmony and Zelienople post offices, for convenience's sake, in a location such as the former Kasing Dodge building along Route 68.

The former auto dealership building is viewed by some as better suited to a postal operation than either the Harmony facility, which is space in the Harmony municipal building, or the Zelienople post office, which is a headache in terms of parking.

The Kasing property would provide enough space for employee and customer parking, as well as adequate capacity for the various functions of the postal operation.

Understandably, many Zelienople residents would object to that move because of the new travel inconvenience — despite the drawbacks associated with their current site.

Meanwhile, Harmony officials' unhappiness with the postal service's move does not come as a surprise, considering the revenue to the borough that will be lost once the closing takes effect. The borough will be losing the $16,000 annual rent that the postal service has paid to the town's coffers for the municipal building space, as well as any local tax revenue post office employees now pay to the borough.

Potential tax-revenue loss was one of the reasons Butler officials were against a new Butler Memorial Hospital being built outside the city, as well as the new county prison.

Harmony Mayor Cathy Rape said she'll try to work out a compromise with postal officials under which the borough might consider reducing the postal service's rent. However, it might be too late for such an effort.

Nevertheless, Harmony officials aren't wrong in their plans to meet with postal officials Monday or Tuesday in an attempt to exact a change of heart.

The postal service has a right to make changes to its operation, both to achieve efficiencies and cost savings. But the postal service didn't enhance public relations or improve customer relations by springing its Harmony decision on residents and officials virtually at the last minute.

The postal service should have met with Harmony officials before its decision was announced. Such a meeting was a courtesy to which Harmony was entitled, but was denied.

What has occurred is a sign that the postal service needs to become more sympathetic to the concerns and reactions of customers and the communities that it serves.

In this instance, the postal service was inconsiderate. It succeeded only in projecting the attitude of "we don't care what you think."