Postcard from the Edge

How many days does it take a postcard to reach Minnesota from Mexico? Eighteen days, seventeen days, fourteen days? How about forty-one days! While I was on my cruise to Mexico, I sent a postcard to a friend of mine. It was mailed May 28th. I had bought the postcard in Chichen Itza, and tried to mail it in Cozumel, but we didn’t want to go all the way to the post office in the city center to mail a letter, so I asked guest services on the ship to mail it. One of the guys there was taking the mail before the ship left, and he said he’d mail it for me. Now grant it, he may have misplaced it and found it later and then mailed it, but I’m hoping he mailed it when he said he would, which was that afternoon. My friend finally received the postcard yesterday. Has anyone else had a similar experience with mail from a foreign country, especially Mexico? I’m curious.

I can understand a letter form Europe possibly taking that long. When I was in Italy, I was told that the Italian postal system was notoriously bad: very disorganized and very slow. For that reason, I mailed my postcards from Italy at the Vatican City Post Office, supposedly the most efficient in Europe. The postcards made it to their destinations within a few days. I can understand slow mail from Europe, but Mexico is merely the country south of the United States, not an ocean away. When my friend hadn’t received the postcard after a few weeks, we both gave up hope and decided it had been lost.

Tuesday, I mailed him a graduation gift. He’s faced quite a bit of adversity, which I will talk about in another post (I got his permission for this) and I am so proud of him for graduating college and making it on his own. He even graduated with a higher GPA than I did. He’s a smart and resilient guy and a very special person, so I wanted to do a little something for him. The graduation package took two days to arrive; the postcard, which arrived on the same day, took forty-one days. People may complain about he United States Postal Service, but they are remarkably efficient, especially considering the experiences I’ve had with other countries, most recently Mexico.

The graduation gift I sent wasn’t much but it was sent with love, and it made him so happy. It made me happy that I could do this small thing for him. I have another friend who regularly sends me care packages. He just wants to show how much he cares, and they are always wonderful and such a great surprise. I have to admit that the joy of giving is truly rewarding, especially when you know how happy it makes someone. I know when I receive a gift that is given from the heart, it makes me so happy, and when I give a gift, I’m always happy that it takes the person receiving the gift happy too. It’s the little things we do that can make a difference for someone.