Support for the postmen

Dear Editor – In the eight years my wife and I have lived in Thame we have found our postmen always to be friendly, reliable and an asset to the area in many ways. In fact that?s been true of postmen everywhere we?ve lived. It?s a reassuring sight ? I write only as a resident ? to see the red bike parked opposite our house and know the postman is on his way.

In a radio programme I heard a postman from some other area talk about a computer system in which, he said, a post round is tracked, with a little chap on the screen walking up and down garden paths and putting letters in letter boxes. The computer decides how long it takes to walk the round and, then, the human postman has to keep up the speed dictated by the screen. The system is reportedly called Pegasus ? but I thought Pegasus was a horse!

According to the postman on the phone-in, allowance is made for the delay caused by eight packages, which require a ring at the bell. The caller said he could have dozens more than that (I forget the figure). Another caller pointed out that dogs could cause delays.

Postmen, with a friendly word or a passing chat, can brighten people?s day. I don?t think the computer allows for that either.

Which all means that, although I have no knowledge or grasp of the issues involved, I would not blame any of the postmen and women I have met for going on strike. Because I have met them.

It also means that any comment-loaded headline like one in a national paper today which called the postal workers ?Lemmings? is unjust and unfair.

Yours sincerely
Norman Brand
Fanshawe Road