Al was the only mailman I remember ever delivering our mail while I was growing up.
When Al was sick or away on vacation, a total stranger delivered our mail. He or she wore the same blue uniform but walked faster, didn't smile and definitely would not ring the bell and hand our letters to us with a warm smile. No, the substitute mailmen coldly placed our mail in our mailbox and left — what nerve.
Al was like one of the family. My sister and I would leave notes for Al in the mailbox every once in a while. My mother gave Al a 13-ounce pink tin of Almond Roca every year for Christmas. Nowadays, things are so different.
Do you have an "Al" or a stranger delivering your mail?
Who gets mail anymore? I mean the traditional paper letters that gets delivered to your mailbox out front. Snail mail is slowly on the decline, and although it has to be saving some trees, I find it terribly sad.
I still exchange picture postcards with my former neighbor who became a pen pal when I left home for college long ago. I have saved almost everything she has ever sent me. Real treasures I will keep forever.
With the decline of snail mail comes the decline of the snail shells. Yes, you know these. Those familiar squat blue mailboxes on the corners that you used to try to cram your little brother into, those are known as snail shells and they are disappearing right along with snail mail picture postcards.
The U.S. Postal Service says it is removing "underperforming" mail boxes from the nation's streets, mailboxes which collect less than 25 pieces of mail a day. During the past 20 years, 20,000 big blue boxes have disappeared as the volume of mail declines. Snail mail is a dying venture because Americans are paying their bills online, sending holiday greetings online and communicating through short e-mails rather than the old-fashioned pen and paper.
That downward trend is only accelerating. According to an article in the Washington Post, the Postal Service projects a decline of about 20 billion pieces of mail the next two years, going from a high of 213 billion pieces of mail in 2006 to 170 billion projected for 2010.
Nowadays much of our mail appears in our inboxes on our computers. The infrequent paper cut from opening an envelope has been replaced with carpal tunnel. Click. Click. Click. Delete. E-mail is instant gratification, and I will admit I like it.
It does have its drawbacks, though. It has no tone, no emotion to convey and comments can easily get misinterpreted, unlike the way a handwritten note with hand-drawn characters can. Who has heard of printing out typed love letter e-mails and saving them? OK, I have, but it's not the same as a hand-written "I love you," I swear.
No snail mail. No snail shells. No Al the mailman. It all goes hand in hand, and what is next? Gone are the friendly faces who deliver the handwritten notes of love with Hershey's candy bars tucked inside (thank you, Kay). Gone is the personal connection and gratitude knowing someone took the time to write a note, put a stamp on it and put it in a snail shell with your name on it.
As long as snail mail is around, you can count on me to help keep it in business.
Quote of the week: "For want of the nail the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe the horse was lost. For want of the horse the rider was lost. For want of the rider the battle was lost. For want of the battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horse shoe nail." — Horse Shoe Nail
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