Another day at the Post-office….

Today I decided to take a break from work to mail a few things at the local post office. I went about mid-afternoon thinking I could miss most of the lunch/post-work traffic but due to ONE postman on duty this was not the case. The line was long and people were fidgety. I stepped up as number 6 in what would soon be a line of 10 when the drama occurred. After 5 minutes of a standing in a line full of people that obviously had more important things to do other than wait 5 more minutes to get their stamps or send a package, an older man pushing 90 yrs avoided the line, moving straight to the counter to ask the postman (post-woman?) if she could help him find his letter he accidentally dropped in the box around a corner without putting a stamp on it. The post woman was quite busy but seeing how anxious this man was and his lack of hearing she decided to step away from helping the line to assist him. Immediately everyone reacted in line, turning to one another, shifting their weight, and sighing heavily. The older man was confused when the post woman left – she returned to the desk to tell him the postmaster would come and help him if he would return to the drop box – then he could talk to her through the hole in the drop box to describe the letter they were looking for. After several huhs and whats and the older man looking through several holes in the wall that were no related to the drop box he understood what she was telling him. Everyone in line was smirking and even as I was finding myself impatient I thought to myself, “some day we will all be that old man.”

Thinking that success had arrived for the old man the line progressed and all were happy. I could hear the older man talking loudly through the hole in the drop box at one point telling a middle-aged business man that had just walked in not to put his mail in the box because they were looking for something…….and all of a sudden I heard a “boom!” I abruptly turned to my left to see the older man falling hard, to the ground, knocking over a barrier, post & chain blocking the drop box area from the line. The man behind me rushed to his side claiming that the businessman had just shoved the older man, causing him to fall. Another woman and I rushed to help also as the older man was being helped up, while the middle-aged man stood there with the rest of his mail in hands held in an arrogant, yet innocent stance in the air saying, “that old man slapped me, it’s not my fault. That old man slapped me.” The 9 other people in line along with myself saw the old man fall and watched as the business man did nothing to help him out and not even denying that he shoved the old man. I couldn’t believe it.

Increasingly appalled, the 10 persons including myself who were once intolerant of the older man causing our time at the post-office to be 5 minutes longer than we had planned were immediately moved to action. One woman followed the business man out getting his license plate number as he continued to deny he was ever in the wrong (in hitting 90 yr old man mind you), another man walked the older gentleman to his car (where his wife with Alzheimer’s was waiting in the sun), another woman called the police while the postmaster searched for the mail the man had dropped off in order to figure out who he was or where he worked.

I stayed long enough to make sure the older man was okay and left my contact information for the police if they needed more witnesses but the older man’s daughter had already arrived and they had 5 adult witnesses so I decided not to get in the way.

Considering all that has just transpired I couldn’t help but ask myself these questions thinking in terms of Americans today:

What’s wrong with us – what’s so important in our lives that we can be set off enough to shove an elderly man because he’s taking so long?

OR what’s making us so angry that we react violently without even a slight hesitation of thinking rationally about the situation or concern for the other human being?

Why can’t we stay in a line for 10-15 minutes? What are we going to miss that is so imperative?

Why are we so intolerant of people who are different or perhaps embarrassing at times?

I’m hopeful that 10 people decided to act --- not one person walked away and didn’t help with something in that moment. Everyone was concerned and it was hilarious to see how all of us important, demanding, impatient peoples…all of a sudden had all the time in the world….