When you see a U.S. Postal Mail Truck, what thoughts do you have?  

September 30, 2023

I recently drove in the opposite direction of a mail delivery truck and several thoughts went through my mind.  Usually, the sound of this vehicle ascending my hill awakens me to the time of day and the slight hope for the delivery contents carried within this daily messenger.  For social card game players, it’s a bit like the feeling you have just after the cards are dealt and you turn them in hand to see how the game will unroll this time.  Other days the easily-identified sound of the truck prompts me to finish up a message in a letter or seal up an envelope for pick-up in exchange for the delivery.  But when I saw the truck this day I realized that its lumbering daily arrival delivers that sense of routine that is reassuring in our current busy schedules.  The image connects me to a lifetime of brief exchanges with the carrier and the positive associations that come from the contents that will await you in the post box whether you are there to note its arrival or not.  Since I love letter writing, the view of a postal truck, big blue mail receptacle, or a stand of mail boxes also reminds me of the recent letters that I have posted; I like to imagine my intended reader receiving and reading my letter.  This is why we are asking the visitors to our Letters Trellis tent for their answer to the question posed as a title to this article.  

In a recent article on the U. S. Postal Service from “The Economist”, a review of our current U.S. Postmaster General includes some interesting statistics about average American attitudes toward this federal agency.  According to a recent survey, the favorability rating of the U.S. mail delivery service of 77% is only exceeded by that of our National Park Service.  Despite the shift to e-commerce and electronic communications, perhaps the positive ranking relates to the reliability of mail delivery carried by the famous quote: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".  While in fact there is no official motto of the U.S. Postal Service, this ongoing reference is a tribute to America’s postal workers and our sense of trust attributed to the arrival of the red, white and blue truck in inclement weather year-round.  The actual background of the oft-repeated motto is credited to 500 years B.C. during wars between the Greeks and Persians in reference to the mounted Persian couriers of this time.  

No matter how you might respond to the question above, Letters Trellis invites you to entrust a letter to our U.S. Postal System when you write to a loved one or friend.  Visit our table at the Winchester Farmers Market or our website for ideas to get you started.  

• https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/08/13/louis-dejoys-ambitious-plans-for-americas-postal-service

• https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/87770/neither-snow-nor-rain-isnt-usps-motto 

• https://uspsblog.com/how-is-new-york-city-related-to-famous-postal-quote/ 

• https://sdmcphail.com/2017/10/18/ancient-persias-pony-express/