SANTA ANA — 'Tis the season to queue up at the post office, but authorities in Orange County said Tuesday that the lines were shorter and the volume of mail lighter than expected, with the number of Christmas cards and parcels falling slightly compared to last year.

"It's the recession," said Stacy DiRocco, spokeswoman for the Orange County postal division. "It's everybody's story these days. People are doing less shopping. They are not spending as much, so they are not mailing as much."

On Monday, normally the Postal Service's busiest day of the year, Orange County workers processed more than 7 million pieces of mail, but that total was 1% less than the same day last year, DiRocco said.

Many customers said they expected long lines and nasty attitudes at the post office this week but instead got efficiency and fast service, even though mail volume during the week before Christmas typically increases 10% nationwide.

Rosalyn Anderson of Irvine came prepared Tuesday afternoon. She brought her Reader's Digest and stood outside the Sunflower Avenue postal office, where the windows were festively decorated with pictures of Santa Claus. With two dozen customers ahead of her, Anderson had about a 15-minute wait.

"They're pretty organized here," Anderson said. "I wanted to make sure my package went out today."

The Postal Service attributes the relatively speedy service--a typical wait ranges between five and 20 minutes--to more manpower. Some stations increased the number of clerks manning the service windows. Others staggered lunch breaks to cope with the Christmas crowd.

"We were prepared for a heavy volume," DiRocco said. "More people, more packages."

At the Garden Grove office on Monday, seven clerks worked the six windows where, by midafternoon, more than 1,000 customers mailed Christmas cards, cakes and cookies to distant relatives and friends.

"We're trying to keep our heads above water," said clerk Dave Candlish. "As (mail) comes in, it gets shipped out. We keep putting it out, but we keep getting more."

Other postal workers attributed the short lines to increasing use of priority mail, which guarantees delivery within two to three days nationwide. Many customers figure they can beat the usual Christmas rush by waiting until later in the week to mail their packages via priority mail, authorities said.