Re: “Mail-service cuts hit home with a package of worries,” Dec. 12.
For the past 20 years, I have used a community mailbox because our rural delivery ceased. I don’t mind. Why? I am able-bodied, for now, I have the option of online bill paying, for now, and if I am unwell, I can take my car the few rural blocks to the “super” mailbox, for now.
For so many others, the daily door-to-door mail is not a luxury, it is a necessity for independence and quality of life. My mom, who lived until just a few years ago, loved the mail and the mail person. There was a friendly, familiar face when she was housebound and feeling less and less a participant in her community. She experienced a reciprocity of care as she knew about the delivery person’s life and family and often gave the person a cup of coffee and an ear.
Once the delivery person urged her to “give your daughter a call, you don’t seem well.” Since I was three hours from Port Alberni, and I had a proud, independent mom, I appreciated the message more than you can imagine.
So for support of our citizens and the fine men and women workers, let’s think long and hard about this proposed change. It might not affect you directly, but it affects someone you care about and the quality of Canadian citizenship participation.
Barbara Whittington
Brentwood Bay
