by John Dube

Created on: January 07, 2009

Some powerful words ! Uttered by Tom Hanks in the show that bears the name.
Why is that? Day in and day out the post office has been there for you over the years. Even in a time of faxes , email , UPS , FedEx , no one delivers for you quite as well . Every day every house across the nation rain , sleet snow nor rain shall stop the appointed rounds of the United States Mail Carrier ! No where else in our government can even compare with our trustworthiness. Ranked often in the top three of most trusted government entities ! A job whose employee dedication has also stood the test of time. We live in a world where neighbors often do not even know each other anymore. You can reach someone across the globe via mail or email . Pouring your heart to perfect strangers yet often not helping your neighbor who may be in need. Our carriers often notice when mail is not picked up and take the time to check on that neighbor who may have fallen and couldn't get up or that neighbor whose furnace blew up and is injured and can't make it to the phone for help and save many people along their appointed rounds ! Is it just a bill coming that people can't wait for the carrier to deliver. I think not ! It may be a message in a bottle of sorts . Someone who mailed a birthday card to Uncle Joe or Aunt Jane . For the most part sometimes forgotten by their own families. In our concrete jungles of the big city often so impersonal world we forget the simpleness of a smile , kind word or two or just how nice is is just to hear from someone near or far. Once upon a time horse and buggy brought the news from afar. Getting news from someone so far away was a big thing maybe because news didn't travel as fast and we were often left to wonder how so and so was doing or if there was life changing news like a baby or anything we haven't learned of from the out that way. Due to the advent of the Internet we can reach the ends of the world in a blink of an eye , yet we are in many ways still so far away from one another. Ironic isn't it in this impersonal world we often don't what's going on in town let alone our own neighborhood at times. Yet for 42 cents we can make those connections that have lifelong impacts. One lottery winner had so much faith in the post office he submitted his ticket to the lottery officials via regular mail ! When his wife showed up with him for the winnings she said that if the letter hadn't made it with the ticket she would be going to his funeral ! Letters have been saved over centuries and lifetimes . Saved by soldiers and saved many of soldier knowing he had a wife , girlfriend , someone or family to go back to ! Bringing hope to many who aren't privy to this electronic world we live in. Writers , Poets , Dreamers and lovers , what would this world be without the power of the written word ? Education would have no meaning . Our advances of today just might not be the same. What do you think ? How has letter writing/ Internet affected your lives ?

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