Thank God for the United States Postal Service

Ever since I was a boy, one of my favorite things to do is “get the mail.” For most of my childhood and into my late teens and early adult years that meant crossing the road in front of my parents’ rural home to our little red barn mailbox, and opening the small door to see what missives, publications or, best of all, parcels, our mail lady may have delivered. Now, getting the mail means unlocking the small, silver box fixed to the right of our front door. While the mechanism has changed, the ritual hasn’t for this daily delight.

And for that reason, I thank God for the United States Postal Service. With work largely taken for granted, and a staff that’s mostly invisible to the general public, the USPS quietly, steadily and faithfully delivers to our homes and businesses 355 days a year. On average, the men and women in postal blue daily deliver (7,184 of them entirely on foot) 509 million pieces of mail to homes and business across the country from Key West, FL to Barrow, AK. In 2015, the USPS processed and delivered 154.2 billion pieces of mail, nearly 50% of the world’s mail volume, and generated $68.8 billion in operating revenue. By any measure, it’s a big operation. But in the midst of its bigness, the USPS, through the letters and packages it brings, touches our lives in very personal ways.

In an age that continues to become ever more digitized, the USPS still remains the most tangibly personal way of communicating with each other.  While text, email and social media are cheap and quick, a mere 47 cents (or 34 cents if you are the postcard type) allows us to send the most private of communications in the most secure and reliable method available. Heartfelt notes of thanks, joyful invitations, and cards of comfort after a devastating loss are among the precious cargo being carried by postal workers across the miles via planes, trains, trucks, ferries, helicopters, subways, hovercraft, bicycles, and even mules.  Living thousands of miles from our families, Mikaela and I are able to be a part of holidays and special occasions  with loved ones as the USPS transports our cards and packages to and from each other, despite obstacles like inclement weather.

And lest you think I’m getting too sentimental, the USPS serves us practically as well. Each week, we receive mailings with the most recent coupons and ads, both of which we utilize several times a month. Even though we find discounts and digital coupons online, nothing beats the convenience of having those kind of tools handily in our mailbox. And while I can’t say I’m always thankful for it, the mailman also brings us our bills—a practical prevention for me not to forget to pay the electric company.

While most of the over 625,000 folks who work for the USPS remain faceless to us, we thankfully have the opportunity to interact with the real live beings who fill our mailboxes each day. When I was growing up, it was Cindy. Now it's Frank, a tall, friendly postman, originally from Africa, who graces our doorstep each day. One of our neighbors, Jack, was a mail carrier in our city for decades decades ago, long before the conveniences of modern technology.  

Pop culture has given us beloved representatives of the USPS:  the rugged Ben Pentland of the Christy novels and TV series; the absent-minded, but tender-hearted Wooton Bassett, of the family radio drama Adventures in Odyssey; and the mystery-solving postal detectives of the Hallmark Channel's Signed, Sealed, Delivered.  Of course, the USPS has contributed to pop culture itself with its impressive, growing collection of creative postage stamps. The fictional characters along with the real-life men and women we encounter at the mailbox and post office, remind us that the daily event of getting the mail is the result of a truly human endeavor.

The United States Postal Service isn’t perfect. But for a public service that runs entirely without taxpayer dollars, I’d say it’s one government program that does alright. So the next time you’re looking for a blessing to count, include the USPS among them—it just might be bringing you a coupon for a free meal.