Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home

Grant urges readers to understand the importance of books and their delivery through the USPS, both historically and in the present. He explains that one of the primary purposes of the USPS has always been to facilitate the flow of information and ideas across the country, allowing Americans far and wide to develop new skills and learn what they otherwise could not. It has also made them into informed citizens. Grant laments that cuts to vital services like the USPS threaten rights and freedoms while destroying the credibility of the service through a reduction in quality. Though some may consider the post office, or books, to be obsolete in today’s world, Grant argues that both are fundamental to American society.

Grant recalls the day that the newest hire broke down on his route and needed to be rescued. He quit after that, clearly overwhelmed by the work, and Grant admits that most people spend the first several months feeling the same way. After an incident in which a woman yelled at Grant about her missing package and told him to take responsibility for it, Grant hit his limit and texted his wife to tell her his plans to quit. Everything fell on him in an instant, and he felt as though his entire life was a failure. His career had amounted to nothing, and he was still worried about his cancer.

Grant spent the last several months of his father’s life taking care of him when he got cancer, but Grant’s father was stubborn and refused treatment, thus dying faster. Grant’s father once told him that he would only ever have himself to rely on, which led to a lifetime of stoicism and self-reliance that Grant now realizes was never really necessary. 

At home, Grant broke down in the bath while his wife sat nearby, quietly comforting him. It occurred to him that he had always had people to ask for help but had been too proud to do so. It was then that he decided to let go of his anger and remember whom he was living each day for: his loved ones.

Being a mail carrier was physically taxing, and Grant notes that the job carries double the risk of injury of most jobs in the United States. Along with the repetitive stress injuries, there are also risks of falls, interactions with citizens and animals, exposure to severe weather, and all kinds of other dangers associated with the job. Grant recalls a time when he developed hypothermia and another in which he was knocked unconscious when he slipped down a slope on someone’s property. He muses that if those two incidents had coincided, he could have died. At the same time, working such a physical job brought Grant closer to himself, to the land, and to being alive. It reminded him of what it felt like to have a body and to live in a body, something that most people take for granted.

Grant expresses his gratitude for his fellow postal workers and all they did to support and help him during his time as a mail carrier. He also expresses gratitude for the people he delivered to, who often helped him as much as he helped them. One such woman would give Grant her old issues of various magazines for him to read. Others would give him coffee or water or simply thank him for his service. All of this made Grant feel warm, appreciated, and part of something larger.

When he was near his parents’ house dropping off a package one day, Grant decided to stop in and say hello, which he never did. He was welcomed warmly and found his father watching TV while his mother made pancakes. Those pancakes turned out to be the last she ever made for him because Grant’s father would soon die of cancer, and his mother would develop dementia that destroyed her procedural memory. Grant didn’t realize at the time just how precious that meal really was.

Grant explores the variety of spiritual experiences he has had throughout his life. The first of these occurred when he was in his early twenties and was riding his bike in North Carolina. He went into a building to get water and found himself overcome with a sense of oneness. He heard music, saw light, and felt something inclining him to kneel. The experience was followed by several similar ones, but these ended in his late twenties and did not begin again until he became a mailman. The final spiritual experience that Grant discusses happened when his career prospects were beginning to change, and he knew his time as a mailman was coming to an end. Nevertheless, Grant felt as though he had done exactly what he was supposed to have done and that he did it with God’s help.

Grant found a position at a media company and returned to the familiarity and disconnect of white-collar work. It happened just as his savings ran out and just as he realized that he could have applied for Medicaid rather than worry about finding a job that covered healthcare. In the end, Grant realized that he took the job to become a mailman, to reconnect with his country and his Appalachian roots, and to remember the value and importance of serving others. He maintains a deep sense of appreciation for the mail and all it does for the American people, however trivial or significant each parcel may be. It is, Grant assures the reader, something that all Americans can depend upon.