Please, Please Mr. Postman … or MS. Postman!

Displaying treasured mail received recently. 

When the Beatles sang this song in 1963 (“Please Mr. Postman” - written by William Garrett, Georgia Dobbins, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, and Robert Bateman), everyone I knew looked forward to the daily contents within their mail receptacles. Now when the mail is delivered, many of my generation still look for something more than bills Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. The mailman, and also mailwoman, are less respected by the younger generation who rarely write anything in cursive or block letters via snail mail to anyone. Their preferred method of communication is text. Or blog. Maybe emails. Letter writing is a lost art, as well as a dying means of communication. 

In the late 1990s, when mail carriers delivered cards and letters to appreciative customers, Kevin Costner starred in a 1997 movie, THE POSTMAN. It was a bleak look at a future in which society breaks down due to a proliferation of violent acts perpetuated by hate groups. War breaks out. The population is decimated by a plague. A drifter, played by Costner, becomes a Postman, offering hope to those who receive old letters he found in a deserted post office. We liked the movie. It did not make a profit. Millions of people may have seen it, but they did not like it. It was deemed a box office failure. Sure, it might have been schmaltzy and corny, but I loved the idea of a postman and his deliveries being the most vital way for an intelligent, sensible, cohesive world to communicate with one another. It’s still a preferred means of communication for me. 

Every holiday and birthday a friend I worked with for a year (1981-82) sends me a greeting card, and she receives one from me. We’ll keep up this practice until one of us is too feeble to go out to buy a card or can’t remember who the other one is. This practice helps to keep our friendship vital - even before we discovered the internet. Loved ones receive birthday cards annually even though some of them prefer social media to celebrate the occasion. When we’re on vacation, we send postcards to those we would normally see if we were home. Those folks don’t have social media accounts! The mail carriers are still revered by them and us. 

During this COVID-19 experience, we look forward to seeing our mail carrier more and more. He has always had a somewhat solitary job - driving alone with mail to be delivered. Now we interact a little more with Nelson, or a substitute mail carrier when he is ill or on vacation. We ask how he’s doing. We inquire about the impact of social distancing on his job, and if he’s concerned about getting the virus. He continues to be upbeat and positive. We continue to offer a smile, a wave, and/or a bottle of water  - even if he only delivers bills and junk mail. If you think of it, thank your mail carrier today. Just stay six feet apart.