In response to a surge in customers lining up to mail out holiday season packages, the U.S. Postal Service’s main post office, near the Honolulu Airport, has extended its “Santa-days” services slated for Saturday — three days before Christmas Eve — to a full day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Also, for anyone seeking to largely avoid the season’s hustle-and-bustle, there’s the on-site Prepaid Package Dropoff Tent. Customers who’ve paid for and printed out postage (available at USPS.com), can drive up and drop off packages without getting out of their cars. The tent is open for drive-bys noon to 8 p.m. through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Taking refuge could be life-lifting

There are upsides to this unstable winter weather Honolulu’s been having. One is that rain makes finding shelter an irresistible urge.

And that is driving the homeless to seek out the inflatable pop-up tents just erected at Waipahu Cultural Garden Park through the city’s Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons program (HONU).

The initial attraction is the shelter, but the navigation is what should direct many clients to find help — rather than just another place to hide.