Snail Mail

Constant references to the postal system as snail mail has made this internet devotee annoyed. It is a disparaging remark  made about a public service that, for  well over a century, has delivered the mail across a global landscape. The postal service employs hundreds of thousands of men and women and has connected people from all over the globe via letters, cards and packages that would never have been received had it not been for the ‘mailman’. The postal service attests to our existence in this world.  A mailing/home address is real. A website is not! 

The  ‘new  kid on  the block’-electronic mail- is a much faster competing service that allows for the sending and receiving of messages- at the speed of sound. It is the modern age equivalent of the postal service. Yet the whole system, as wonderful as it is, can shut down suddenly without warning and leave us in the lurch. Email is dependent upon a power grid that we take for granted in this futuristic modern world in which we live.

Electronic mail is literally at your fingertips. You are now primed to connect with the world beyond your doorstep-in a heartbeat. When you live in the country, however, things can change quickly. Regardless of how high tech your system  might  be, connection with a server can be lost without notice because of trees etc.  A computer can behave erratically-as mine did a few moments ago as I wrote this-and change your plans indefinitely...Strangely prophetic, I think.  

I am from a period of time, where a handwritten letter was a cherished artifact, soon to become a piece of  your personal history, perhaps. A card, a postcard, a letter- nothing beats the real thing! And yet the mere mention of the postal service  seems to elicit a dismissive tone. It is slower than e-mail, yes. But so am I. So what? How can you compare apples and oranges, anyway? (And I love both!!)

I salute those companies that give credit to the vast numbers of us who connect via letters not e-mail: Scientific American, The Mind, and Martha Stewart’s, Living, to name a few. Many of us still want and need to connect the old way. In some cases there is no other way for us. Not everyone has an email address or wants to give it out freely... (Paul McCartney does not give his email to anyone)

Are we creating a society where only the techno savvy get to communicate with others? Choice keeps us all on our toes and not everyone owns a computer. What happens when the system shuts down because of  a widespread power grid malfunction or collapse? Do we want to put all our eggs in one basket, as they say? Some postal stations are shutting down because of reduced mail volume. Are jobs being lost? To companies who choose to do business strictly by electronic mail, you are slowly helping to dismantle the postal system, bit by bit. Naturally you need the system when it comes to delivering your products. Are you losing customers with large orders because they do not want or have e-mail? Think about it.

The internet is awesome. It has facilitated and made possible for the exchange of information in every walk of life: business, science, medicine and at home. It has made education accessible to all. It has allowed ‘TheMomsey’ to exist...But there is a down side- like all things in life. The postal system is a  part of the 21^st century. It is there for us, in all manner and when all else fails! In the end, the only thing we can truly count on to keep things moving in our society is people.