Memories of a Basildon postman

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/232497 ... oncerning/

IT’S 2am and I’m full of the flu, unable to sleep and feeling reflective. Reflective of 34 years as a postman. The heavy old bikes, a health and safety nightmare.

The comradery, the banter, the ill fitting uniform, dog alarms that were useless, torches that lasted a day and bags that consumed water like a drunkard at a wedding. Standing under street lamps to read addresses, scantily clad women answering the door.

The friends we made on deliveries that became our patch. The long conversations about football, politics, religion and the weather. The smiles and good mornings, the sweets and biscuits, cards and tips at Christmas.

Being asked to just keep a lookout while a customer was on holiday, phoning the police while witnessing a break-in thus saving many valuables being nicked. The people we got to know, their stories, their families and their pets. Toby the Labrador rushing out every morning to get the mail and faithfully deliver it to his owners.

The folk we saw become ill and those we lost, the flowers on front lawns and the respects we paid. Watching the sun rise every morning and home by noon. The fact that the office was cleared every single day.

The fact that we were more than just mail deliverers. We were part of the community.

Those days are gone. This isn’t progress it’s regression. It’s sad, it’s tragic, it’s privatisation.

Those days will never come back but I feel privileged to have once been part of them.

To all the colleagues we’ve lost over the years, to all the friends we made inside and outside of the office, they were indeed good times.

PAUL OSBORNE