The US Post Office motto of ‘Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds’ was lifted from Herodotus’ account of the Persian Empire’s postal system of horse relays ‘It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed’.
Last night I wasn’t expecting any mail, but at the most furious hour of Hurricane Sandy hitting New York I telephoned the nearest Chinese Take-Out on Fulton Street and the young girl at the counter answered my call.
“You want delivery?”
I gave her my order for General Tsao’s Chicken and Fort Greene address.
“Thirty minutes.”
I gave the delivery man a $3 tip for a $7 order.
A ten was all I had in the house, but this morning I dropped over to the store and gave him another two dollars. He said thank you without realizing for what.
We all look alike to them.