Small Town Post Offices

When I was older and we moved above my father's funeral home situated in the nearby small town, most every day he'd go to the post office to pick up the mail. More often than not he'd be gone for over an hour-and the post office was just around the corner. That's because he didn't go just to get the mail. He went for the experience. He went for the exchange of conversation. Sometimes the conversations were with business acquaintances; sometimes old friends and sometimes with people he really didn't know but saw every day at that old building with its wall of p.o. boxes and photos of the town so many years ago and the counter where stamps were bought, letters mailed and packages picked-up.

Christmas was his favorite time to go there. Besides the usuals he was certain to run into old friends visiting or locals not normally there but were in need of services only a post office could provide back then.

Sadly I hear some small town post offices might close. You hear various reasons why but I dare say this internet thing-this device that has connected me to you-played into the demise of grand old buildings and small one room buildings and everything in-between we affectionately call Post Offices which are so much more than the apparent.

If post offices close we lose another real, hands-on and in-the-face way of communicating with each other. And that's not only sad-it's scary!

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