We are living in a time of chaos, cruelty and uncertainty. Every day brings another gob smacking evil deed unleashed by that narcissist in the White House.
Where can we turn for comfort. Whom can we trust for daily stability, perhaps even a piece of good news?
I trust my mailman, Bob.
Bob’s arrival on my doorstep is one of the comforting little events of my day. I hear him open the metal box — sometimes my dog Jolene’s excited barking signals his approach — and I wonder what Bob has delivered today.
True, we live in a digital era, so I don’t often receive hand-written letters. But my sister Anne still writes them and my brother Ben sends me newspaper clippings. I send them too. I even write letters occasionally.
“The New Yorker” comes here each week, with a colorful and interesting cover reflecting current events. I even subscribe to “Time” magazine — remember “Time”? — mostly because it’s only about $20 per year and I like pulling it out of my mailbox. I could also subscribe to “Mother Jones” online but I prefer the hard copy.
Hold on — I just heard Bob! Wait a minute…
This you won’t believe — I got a hand-written letter from my friend Carol Christmas, who used to be a mail deliverer! She has beautiful penmanship and writes with sentimental feeling. The one that arrived today was a holiday card. But unlike the senders of most such cards, Carol took the time to write personal thoughts about our country and how she and others continue to gather every Sunday at 12 noon in front of Hamden’s Town Hall to register their objections to Trump. She concluded: “Keep some room for optimism.”
Made my day.
Bob also put in my box today the latest “A.A.R.P. Bulletin,” “The New Yorker,” an appeal from the United Farm Workers (remember them? I send them donations) and a funding request from the New Haven Museum. (I am a member.)
What got me revved up to write this today was a disturbing New York Times story reporting that Denmark, after 400 years of steady and reliable mail delivery, has ended it. Those dwindling few who want to keep the service (“pen and paper enthusiasts”) will have to use Dao, a private company. The Times didn’t tell us how much that will cost.
The Times also recently ran a story, “Mail Carriers Keep Delivering,” which was somewhat reassuring. But it carried some storm clouds, such as Trump calling the U.S. Postal Service “a tremendous loser for this country” and suggesting it be privatized. (I could say something about who is the real “tremendous loser for this country” but why bother?)
Did you know that this year marks the 250th anniversary of our postal service? Trump doesn’t care, so he’s not publicizing it. But the Times story included notice of the anniversary (Ben Franklin got it going). And the story quoted Stephen Starring Grant, a former postal worker who wrote a memoir, “Mailman,” about his years of service. He noted mail deliverers offer this: “Continuity. Safety. Normalcy. Companionship. Civilization.”
“No matter what else is going wrong,” Grant said, “you’re still getting your mail.”