Postal workers meet challenge of delivering kids’ postcards
Dear Abby:
While our daughter was on vacation with our small grandkids, she bought them postcards and suggested they write us about their vacation.
She said she laughed when the kids finished with the cards because she hadn’t realized they didn’t know how to write a postcard. The children had turned the cards sideways and written across the entire card. She found a half-inch space and in tiny print wrote our names and address.
I would like to thank the postal workers in both Springfield and Wales, Mass., and in Hartford, Conn., for caring, for taking the time to search for our address and forwarding these wonderful memories to us.
Thankful Grandma J. Dear Thankful:
I’m pleased to pass along your message to the caring postal workers.
When I started this reply, I thought I’d begin by quoting the postal workers’ official motto: “Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow,” etc. Unsure of the correct wording, I decided to look it up online. What I found fascinated me, and I hope it will you, too:
Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. Postal Service has no motto. The familiar sentence “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” is actually the inscription found on the General Post Office in New York at Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street.
The inscription was provided by the building’s architects. The sentence appears in a translation of the account of the fifth-century B.C. Greek historian Herodotus and describes the expedition of the Greeks against the Persians. The Persians had mounted postal couriers, and he was describing the fidelity with which their work was done. Dear Abby:
I spoke to a doctor friend about some medical issues my wife was experiencing. He specializes in this area. When he advised my wife to come into the office, I told him it was not a good time for us financially. He said not to worry about it.
We made the appointment, and two months later the bill arrived. We are on a high-deductible health plan, and the bill is not cheap. How can I discuss this with my friend without offending? I don’t want to sound presumptuous — I know this is his livelihood.
Financial Difficulty Dear “Difficulty”:
Call your friend and explain the situation. If you do, he may reduce the amount of his bill or agree to a payment plan.