Rain, sleet, snow but no mail

"Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow ..." You know the rest, but apparently the U.S. Postal Service has forgotten its unofficial motto.

We have received no mail at home for the past two days, and today, when I went by the Wilson Post Office, the counter was closed, and there was no mail in the post office box. Oh sure, there was snow on the ground, and yesterday afternoon the roads were a bit dicey, but today the streets were wet but not slippery by the afternoon, when I was out. The Postal Service couldn't be bothered.

Our morning newspaper was delivered both days, although it was not in the driveway at the usual 6 a.m. hour. It did arrive, however. The U.S. mail? It didn't make it.

The Postal Service has its problems, and I tend to be sympathetic about some of the problems. But it's little wonder that the Postal Service has problems when its employees abandon ship with every snowfall. In contrast, I felt enormously sympathetic toward a Food Lion clerk Wednesday afternoon at the height of the storm. The checkout line was long with people stocking up on snowstorm supplies (including cigarettes). They were all on their way home, and she wasn't. It showed in her face. She didn't want to be there, but she was on the job. You couldn't say that about postal employees.