For most of us, it's a daily ritual we tend not to think much about. Every day, when we get home, the mail is just there, but for more than half a century Joseph Robinson has been one of the reasons why.
The often unseen, too often unheralded man behind countless messages is a postman worthy of a poem.
"Gather round everyone so you can hear, about a carrier who is retiring this year."
Mr. Robinson, as he's known, is retiring; his years of service celebrated, appropriately, in the place he went to all that time. It'll be 52 years on November 7th.
"I remember, very first day," said Joseph Robinson.
At the Camden Post Office on Mt. Ephraim Avenue, he's a bit of a legend.
"He is always willing to pitch in, always. Wish I had a hundred more like him. Wish I had 100 more carriers like him," said Delivery Supervisor, Carla Shultz.
And the cliché, it turns out, is true. Despite his age and experience, and all his seniority, Robinson has slogged through weather of every sort. He is carrier well aware of the importance of what it was he carried.
"Letter carriers are creatures of habit," said Robinson. "We hate change."
And that might explain why retirement may involve a part time job.
"Guy once told me, you're so used to being in a certain place at a certain time; you'll never change. And he's right," said Robinson.
Most along the route, whose mail Robinson has helped sort for so long, may not realize right away he's gone, but that's the way this humble man wants it.
And if someone does notice, they should know he'll be off enjoying retirement. And as they say, "Don't blame the messenger", this one deserves it.
