
United States Postal Service employees sort mail at the Lincoln Park Carriers Annex in Chicago, November 29, 2012. REUTERS/John Gress
Every day I walk through the front door and step over my mail. When I pick it up, I never think about where its been or how its made it to my home… God only knows, I guess.
Well sort of. After spending most of yesterday with United States Postal Service employees, I know a lot more about how it made its way to my door than ever before.
Each and every morning these dedicated civil servants handle amazing volumes of mail and packages or as I learned yesterday, ‘the post.” I met a letter carrier who was slated to deliver a van load of mail and she said it was a light day.
While a lot of mail is electronically sorted, carriers begin their day by sorting some mail by hand and integrating it with the pre-sorted mail. At the same time, clerks sort packages by route and often times the letter carrier I met, will begin her route by delivering mostly letters and then make a second round delivering packages.
So today when I send off one my ebay packages, I will think of the people I met who were up to their arm pits in boxes and appreciate even more the work they do to keep our economy moving.

United States Postal Service mail clerk Sharon Johnson sort packages at the Lincoln Park carriers annex in Chicago, November 29, 2012. REUTERS/John Gress

United States Postal Service mail clerks sort packages at the Lincoln Park carriers annex in Chicago, November 29, 2012. REUTERS/John Gress

A United States Postal Service mail clerk Rosemary Spiewak sorts packages at the Lincoln Park Carriers Annex in Chicago, November 29, 2012. REUTERS/John Gress

United States Postal Service mail Letter Carrier Rafael Matos sorts mail at the Lincoln Park Carriers Annex in Chicago, November 29, 2012. REUTERS/John Gress