I always have a soft spot for the mail carrier, but it’s not what you might think. It’s not the uniform, and I tend of become obsessed with the letter carrier regardless of race, sex, religion, height, weight, sexual preference, etc. I like mail carriers because I think of them as real, personal agents of communication that transcends miles and oceans. They physically bring the things our friends and loved ones have written or simply touched to us no matter where we are.

Of course, they bring bills and junk, too. But they don’t forward your junk mail from place to place to place. They do forward personal mail. A letter from my parents once followed me through four countries when I was traveling in Europe and not staying long anywhere, finally catching up to me on my last stop, all with a regular air mail stamp. They forward bills too, but bills are a fact of life. Better they reach you than go unpaid until a collection agency knocks.

Yes, I am a big fan of the United States Postal Service. I always have been. I’ve moved around a lot in my life and the Post Office has always been extraordinary at making sure my letters reach me. For years I’ve done my Christmas shopping online and they get my gifts to my family every year. I have sustained some of my deepest and most important relationships with the aid of real mail delivered by postal carriers. Sure they are not perfect. Things have been delayed, lost or damaged, but its been rare, extraordinarily rare given the number of pieces that have passed through the USPS to and from me and the number of pieces they handle in general. Check out their stats. There you’ll find out things like the fact that the USPS processes 24 million pieces of mail each hour, on average.

Continue reading →