Why I Love My Postman

As I dropped off some mail for the current Mail A Smile challenge at the post office, I had an epiphany: I love my postman. There's a bunch of reasons but the main thing is this: he fully accepts and appreciates mail art.

The employee at the post office disapproved so much of my envelope that he told me " Never do this again, okay?" So of course I obliged him and lied by saying "okay." Yeah, one grumpy postal employee isn't going to keep me from cheering others up with pretty mail! The funny thing is, it was the least decorated envelope I've sent out in years. It was white with a little sketched black border around the address (I should add the envelope was bought, I didn't make it) and I used my semi-cursive-semi-printing handwriting which is, by all accounts, still totally readable. What was the clincher though? I wrote the zip code like this: 0-0-0-0-0 well, almost like that... the dashes were actually tiny dots.

He behaved as though the envelope was so over-decorated you couldn't read a thing (though I did follow the USPS addressing policies- it should be noted that my envelope looked nothing like their example of an envelope). I was mildly irritated but didn't much mind. Why, you ask? Because of my postman of course!

This guy is wonderful. Every time I get a personal mail art letter he shouts to me, "Nicole, mail!!!" He likes the variety and the difference from boring business letters and sale papers, and really, who wouldn't?!  (Except for a totally boring and/or serious person to adheres strictly to postal rules.) I mean, here's the deal: I pay exorbitant costs for postage stamps, shipping etc. and I probably keep my local postal branch open so they should be more like my post man! But I digress...

Not only does my postman love the mail-art envelopes and packages I receive from pen pals, he loves my own mail art. Every time he picks up my mail he smiles and says things like, "pretty!" Or, "how nice!" So fellow mail artists, keep fighting the good fight and writing letters to those who need a smile - our cause is just and noble!