On this day, 26 July 1775, the US Postal Service was established, and Americans have been waiting for the Postman, ever since. Or, have they? Does the term Mr Postman still exist? And how many people actually find mail in their mailbox these days?, – I’m speaking of the ‘snail-mail’ variety, of course.
I once lived in a house where the only thing I consistently found in my mailbox, was snails. If I went away for a few days, I would arrive home to some very ‘holey’ mail. If I wasn’t quick enough, an average letter could end up looking like a piece of Swiss Cheese. I was amazed at how much mail those critters could eat their way through, in a very short time. It certainly gave ‘snail-mail’ a whole new meaning.
But I Digress….
Back to the story of the humble postman. With Political Correctness in full force, we should be waiting for the ‘postperson’, not the postman. And the Beatles would have to change the words of their song from “Wait, oh yes, wait a minute, Mister Postman”, to, “Wait, oh yes, wait a minute, Postperson”. And pre-schoolers would be watching Postperson Pat, rather than their beloved Postman Pat.
From Snail-Mail to Email
The technology age has brought with it ‘electronic-mail’, or email, as we call it. Instead of walking to the mailbox, we simply go online and check our inbox – which is the digital version of the mailbox. And instead of a few snail-mail letters, our inboxes are now full. Back in the ‘old’ days, we would get a letter, write a response, post it, and then wait for the reply. A process that could take weeks. And I don’t remember the mail box being as crowded then, a s it is now; filled with thousands of emails.
These days, youngsters receive an email, use a two-thumb method to tap out a reply via their smart-phone, press send, and the recipient is reading the response within seconds. And if a response isn’t almost immediate, the sender is wondering what’s wrong.
I wonder how long it will be before Santa sends out an email address to replace his mailbox address at the North Pole?
Modern technology makes snail-mail look like something out of an ancient time – and it probably is – if you remember that the US postal service began on this day in 1775.
6 responses to “Day 18 – UBC – Hey! Wait a Minute Mr Postman!”
We have a frog that likes to hang out in our mailbox. I wonder if he’s ever started the postman. We can have a different postman every day of the week sometimes. Not sure how to have a relationship with the mail delivery person like some done if I don’t get the same guy every time.
I don’t get snail mail OR email that is personal in nature these days.
Nona, I’ll take snails any day, over frogs. I DON’T do frogs, at all. You’ve inspired my next blog, though. I have a couple of frog stories just busting to be told. I couldn’t agree more about the relationship with the Postie (as we call them, here in Australia). When I spent a year in San Francisco, many years ago, our Post-lady loved delivering parcels to us because she actually got to speak to us – well – I suspect it might have had something to do with my Aussie accent; it intrigued a lot of people. I wonder if a time will come when we don’t have a Postie at all? I hope not… Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Very observant and entertaining. Good picture choices.
Most Asian languages (including Farsi) are gender neutral. Latin based languages have a gender neutral option. So, I use “they” or “their” instead of “he or she” or “his or her”; “mail carrier” instead of “mailperson”.
But, personhole cover and such? Nah.
Thank you, Michael, glad you liked the photos. If I ever get my old laptop working again, I have a lot more photos relating to Posties (as we call them, here in Australia). I try to remember to use gender-neutral terms, whenever I can, but old habits die hard. And you are right, ‘personhole’ doesn’t work for me, either. Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. 🙂
For years after we moved into our farmhouse in the country, I would every day drive the five miles to the nearest post office to collect any mail. Now that we have a mailbox at the end of the drive, it’s a two-minute walk. However, the thing is…most of my corresponding is done by email these days.
Gay, that is so typical, isn’t it? Before email, you relied on snail-mail and had to drive five miles to get it. Now that the mailbox is only a two minute walk away, you barely need it. I love hearing about those little ironies in life. Thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. 😉