On Sunday, July 1, 2018, your local United States Postal Service locations will be closed, just like any other Sunday. And, this day has been recognized as National Postal Worker Day.
I think it is important to recognize our local postal workers for a variety of reasons.
For most people in our area, there are three places they visit on a regular basis: the grocery store, the gas station, and the post office.
Your local USPS location is like a daily meeting place for those of us who follow a routine in life. Our paths collide for small talk every day as we congregate for the collection of bills, junk mail, and a few items we actually want.
Whether it is the clerk in the office who tends to customers at the counter along with filling up the P.O. boxes, or the postal carriers walking or driving miles and miles, all of these jobs are important.
Back in 1984, when I was 10 years old, I started delivering the Rochester Post-Bulletin to 125 homes spanning 17 blocks in a neighborhood in Northwest Rochester. I’ve been working ever since. I learned a lot from my first business venture at such a young age.
Probably the most important thing I learned related to work ethic and the commitment to deliver what was promised to paying subscribers six out of seven days each week. Yes, just like our USPS, as a newspaper carrier I only had one day of rest — Sundays.
I’m still in the newspaper business, 34 years later, and I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about the distribution process. As a former circulation director, coordinating upwards of 800 newspaper carriers to deliver daily newspapers to tens of thousands of homes, I can appreciate the challenges facing our USPS. For the Fillmore County Journal, the USPS is our circulation department.
And, in our significantly rural-based communities, most residents know who delivers their mail. There is a more personal first-name-based connection.
So, when you are thinking about how your mail magically arrives in your mailbox each day, think about the people who make it all happen. And, if you sincerely appreciate their six-day commitment to the methodical process for which we may often take for granted, this would be a wonderful opportunity to express your gratitude.
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