I wonder if any building could be more central to the life of a small community than the post office.
Everyone goes there.
It is different in the larger communities, where mail is delivered door to door. I expect that mail delivery just adds to the loneliness of living in the city. What could be more devastating than picking up your monthly bills without two or three of your neighbours brushing by you to pick up their monthly bills as well?
People do not talk too much in the post office. Conversations are generally limited to a personal greeting, an editorial comment about the weather and that is about it. But that, in itself, is personal contact, and sometimes that is all we need to remind us that we are respected members of our community, that we are not alone despite whatever difficulties we might face. It fulfils our need to belong.
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Each of us has personal needs. We need some measure of security and protection. We need to belong, to have the opportunity for interpersonal exchanges with others. We need to sense that we are important and can make some kind of a difference in the world.
We need stimulation, a moment of excitement, something that is a bit out of the ordinary that will spark some interest in us. We need the opportunity for a moment of silence, to be alone with our thoughts, to figure our lives out.
All of us need to exercise our spiritual or philosophic challenges to the mysteries of an unknown universe.
The post office cannot tackle all of our needs. It is limited to our need to belong, but it does a great job with that. Most of our post offices have bulletin boards where interested community groups can communicate to others about upcoming events.
Come winter and the bulletin board is cluttered with notes on bantam, midget and senior hockey games, not to mention the fall suppers, tea and bake sales and the annual play in the school gymnasium.
Of course no one would dare to run advertisements on the post office bulletin board to sell various used household items. Those ads are found on either the side door of the grocery store, or that little struggle for space by the automated teller in the credit union. Commercial ads don’t add much to the spirit of the community, and that is what the post office is all about.
Our post office has a special corner where the funeral home can post the dates and times of the last rites for those who are leaving our community. Somehow, that seems to be fitting. What could be more appropriate than to be heralded in the heart of the community?
Jacklin Andrews is a family counsellor from Saskatchewan who has taught social work at two universities. Mail correspondence in care of Western Producer, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or e-mail jandrews@producer.com.
