photo challenge ~ mail

This week the theme is “mail.” It is also the last of the 52 themes for shutterboo’s photo challenge.
Some of you may know that I deliver mail part time on a rural route. So I kinda have an inside scoop on the subject.

On the days when I am needed at the post office, I get to handle thousands of pieces of mail. Magazines, newspapers, large envelopes, packages, and letters…

After handling them so often one piece blends into the next except for a few pieces that stand out because of a small detail like these hand drawn hearts…

Sometimes I’ll wonder about a piece like this. I’ve seen drawings and doodles, hand made cards and envelopes. For a few moments I think about the actual gesture that the person took to personalize their letter before dropping it at the post office or a collection box.

It makes its way to a big sorting facility and dumped into a larger collection area then fed through large machines on a conveyor at lightning speeds to get sorted and sent to the proper office.
When it reaches my office the last person to touch it was possibly the sender or very few other individuals.

And I am the last person to touch it before it is placed in the mailbox…
(On a rainy summer day at that)

This I like about my job. Delivering letters, postcards from far away places, and packages from an aunt and uncle in Arizona. I’m not sure what the contents are but I enjoy pretending to know what they are. Sometimes there is a death in the family at the residence that I deliver to and I am aware even more that a letter going to this home may have a special blessing included. There is no need to romanticize the gesture.

Then, of course I have my own mailbox at home that gets it’s fair share of letters, magazines and packages…

Often I hear fellow postal people express that they see so much mail at work that they don’t want to see it at home. I get where they are coming from. Some days handling the mail just plain sucks! But I can not say that I share their feeling.
Maybe it’s the stubborn optimist in me, but I always walk out to the edge of my driveway and open the door of my mailbox in hopes of finding something good. If not, I pay the bills, throw out the bulk business mail (us, postal folks are not suppose to say “junk mail”) and wait for another day to get a surprise. I must say, I love snail mail!

So, to celebrate the end of Ms. shutterboo’s wonderful photo challenge I would like to offer a gift to everyone that has followed along and read my posts and stopped by the group’s Flickr page to see which one I submitted every week (this week being no exception).
I offer a small token of thanks to you for stopping in here and being supportive. I will mail you a little surprise. Just leave a comment and I will email you for an address. Be sure to give a CORRECT email address when you reply.

I understand that this takes a little trust on your behalf. You have to trust me with your home address. But I promise you can. Besides, I work for the post office. If I were to do something criminal I would lose my job. As far as telling me where you live and wondering if I will show at your door one day with my camera and a smile, well I won’t promise anything but know that I’m not a stalker :)

If you would rather not I understand. But, for the love of snail mail and the support of my job, wouldn’t you love to get something special in the mail one day instead of another credit card application?

So, you know what to do. Leave a reply, and then head on over to the Flickr photo group to see the other shots.
I’m heading that way myself to take a gander.

Until next time,
Victoria