How many of you still write postcards when you go on vacation? Take time to hand-write a thank-you note? Send birthday cards?
As Hallmark increases the price of greeting cards and the U.S. post office continues to hike up the price of stamps, texting, emailing and “instant messaging” have become the convenient communication tools of choice …and hand-written communication is slowly going the way of the dodo bird.
It’s a shame, really. In my junior year of college, I spent a semester studying at San Diego State University. I used to eagerly await letters from my friends telling me what was happening back on the University of NH campus. Years later, I found a box of these letters, filled with the kinds of details you would only find in someone’s journal. It was delightful to read each one, savor the memories and mail the letter back to the person who sent it. Experiences that the next generation of non-letter-writing kids will never have.
We’ve also gotten used to instant results from our delivery services as well – if the post office regular mail isn’t fast enough, use their overnight mail service or express-mail a package using Fed-Ex or UPS. Don’t feel like going to a store? Go to the Amazon website and in most cases, your delivery arrives 24 hours later.
Post Office Bay, Galapagos Islands – A Step Back In Time
I had an opportunity to go “back in time” on my recent trip to the Galapagos Islands. One of our stops was to the island of Floreana and “Post Office Bay.” Early Spanish visitors called this place “Santa Maria de la Aguada” which translates to “Saint Mary of the Waters” because of its freshwater springs. Passing vessels would stop at this island to replenish water and get tortoise meat. In the late 18th century, English and American whalers would spend weeks at a time resting in the Galapagos during their whaling expeditions.
In order to communicate with loved ones back home, the sailors developed a “non-fee” mailing system at one of the popular landing beaches on Floreana. They constructed a makeshift post office box from a wooden barrel. Any whaler or sailor visiting the area would leave letters in the post box and before vessels left the Galapagos Islands to head home, they would sort through the mail in the barrel and take any mail addressed to places close to their hometowns to hand-deliver them on their return. The bay was renamed “Post Office Bay” by fur trader James Colnet in 1792.
If you visit Post Office Bay today, you can pen a postcard and leave it in the post office box. The visiting group then sorts through a pile of previously-written post cards and can take any that are near to their own hometowns. The rule is, you must hand-deliver the postcards – no stamps. We ended up taking a handful of cards with addresses that ranged from Belmont, MA to Boston and plan to deliver them within the next few weeks. I wrote a “happy birthday” postcard to my son Tucker, who was turning 32 on the very day of my visit (he lives in Haverhill, MA), and my husband Todd wrote one to my daughter Amanda, who lives in Portsmouth, NH. I wondered if our cards would ever find their way to them.
Fast forward to August 23rd – Todd received a text from an acquaintance who lives in Newburyport, MA – the next town over from our hometown of Amesbury. It said, “I just got back from the Galapagos Islands and a trip to Post Office Bay – when I heard the Haverhill, MA address called, I raised my hand to take the card and recognized the name Schell. When I got home, I Googled Tucker and realized the connection – please send me his phone number so I can arrange to deliver his postcard.” Alas … Post Office Island really works! And way more quickly than I ever thought it would.
I’m one of a dying breed of letter-writers … every year when I receive a donation to my Pan-Mass Challenge ride, I hand-write a thank-you card in addition to my emailed recap of the ride. I still remember running to my P.O. box in college in anticipation of news from home – I can only imagine how it must have felt for the families of those whalers who waited eagerly for word from their loved ones.
I have also saved a handful of hand-written communications: birthday notes from my kids, anniversary cards from my husband and some hand-written kudos from professional friends, including the founder of our firm, Pat Jackson, who was notorious for dropping hand-written notes during his travels, as busy as he was. These hand-written gems tell a story in the same way our journals and obituaries will tell our stories when we’re gone.
If you want to “break through the clutter”, hand-write a note! Our firm, Jackson Jackson & Wagner, still sends an annual hand-written Thanksgiving card to clients and friends and we have had many tell us, over the years, how much they look forward to it. Hand-written communication is a tradition worth preserving, in my opinion – much like the tradition of Post Office Bay.
Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA, Senior Counsel & Partner, Jackson Jackson & Wagner/www.jjwpr.com