This is glenn tucker. Everyday he watches for the mailman. Good morning. How is glenn . Much better. Thats fine. I have a letter for him. Thanks. Mail for me . Yes, one for you. Your friends dont forget you when you are sick. No, but i wish i could go outdoors again. I like to go around with the mailman all day. All day, glenn . The mailman has a long day. He gets to the post office before 7 00. First, he picks up the mail that is ready for him. He brings it to his own worktable. Above the table, he has a case for sorting the mail. Our mailman is mr. Dolan. Other mailman are sorting the mail that they will deliver. Letters are most important, so mr. Dolan sorts them first. He puts the letters for each family in their own place. Now, mr. Dolan sorts the magazines and newspapers and packages. It takes about an hour to sort the morning mail. It must be done before 8 00. Mr. Dolan is on time. He is strapping his mail into bundles. He makes each bundle a size that is easy to handle. He takes the letters out of the case in the same order as the houses on his route. He straps the letters up in bundles so they wont get out of order. Now they are ready for him to hand out. The mail is too heavy for him to carry all at once, so he puts part of it into a relay bag. He locks the back for safety. The relay bag is going to a truck. The truck will carry it part way for the mailman. Now, mr. Dolan goes to the mail clerk. From the mail clerk, he gets a very important letter. It is a registered letter, so mr. Dolan signs for it. Everyone who handles a registered letter must sign for it. He gets his key here too. Mr. Dolan takes special care of this registered letter. He puts it in a separate pocket of his pouch. Next, he packs the regular mail, the bundles of letters and magazines. And he is ready to start around his route. He must leave the post office before 8 00. Our mailman is on time. Mr. Dolan is carrying many kinds of messages. He carries friendly letters and business letters. He carries magazines with stories and magazines with news. He links the mail for some people before the stores or offices are open in the morning. Sometimes, he hands the mail to people already at work. The filling station men gets the registered letter. He must sign for it to show he has received it. He must give the signed slip back to the mailman and the mailman must take it back to the post office. The post office must keep the signed slip to show the registered letter was delivered. Mr. Dolan is always careful when he crosses streets. At this corner, he watches the traffic light. He crosses with it. Mr. Dolan comes to each house on his route at almost the same time every morning. At this house, the mailbox is right beside the door. Its handy to reach and easy to open. The lady in this house must have been waiting for her mail. This slot is really the best kind of mailbox. Now, mr. Dolan has emptied his pouch, so he comes to this storage box for his relay bag. The mail truck has already been here. The truck driver lifts the relay bag locked in the storage box. Mr. Dolan takes the mail out and puts the bag back into the box. The truck driver will get the empty back the next time he comes with a full bag. Now mr. Dolan has another pouch full of letters and papers to deliver. The mailman knows everybody in the neighborhood and Everybody Knows the mailman. At the end of his route, he stops at the mailboxes he passes to pickup outgoing mail. In this big mailbox, the large envelopes have fallen to the bottom. The small envelopes are altogether. Mr. Dolan puts them into his empty pouch. He will carry them back to the post office to be sent out. The letters will go to many different places. They may go all over the world. Now, we are outside a Village Post Office and here comes mr. Hahn. He is a rural mailman. He takes the mail to people who live on farms out in the country. Letters and newspapers and magazines, many boxes and packages too. Some of them come from stores. Many country people buy from stores far away. The stores mail their packages to them. The country mailman starts on his way by 9 00. Country delivery is called rural delivery, so the rural mailmans route is called an rd route, the first letters of rural delivery. Part of this route is on paved highway. He turns out here to make his first delivery. The mailbox on a poll is easy to reach. Now, the car turns off the paved road. From here on, it follows a narrower road. This mailbox has its flag up. That means the mailman must stop to pick up something. The farmers wife has a package to mail. Mr. Hahn weighs it. The farmers wife buys stamps for it. She mails her package at the rural mailmans car so some people call it a post office on wheels. Country children often watch for the mailman. Here is becky. Almost every day, she waits by the mailbox. She likes to get the mail for her mother. Just see what has come today. A big box with many holes in it. The holes are really windows. What is in the big box with the round windows . The box is full of baby chicks. And baby chicks dont have to eat or drink for a whole day after they are hatched, so they can travel safely through the mail. Now, mr. Hahn has come to another farm. This farmer wants to order seeds by mail. Hes buying them from a store far away, so he needs a money order to pay for them. He knows a money order is a safe way to send his money. The rural mailman will send the money order from the village. Now, away goes the post office on wheels, taking to people in the country all the services of a post office in town. Every day, everywhere, hundreds of mailman are going on their rounds. The deep, deep snow doesnt stop this mailman. Rain doesnt keep this mailman from bringing the mail on time. In a town on the desert, the heat doesnt make the mailman late. Sometimes, a messenger brings a letter by special delivery at night. In good weather and in bad weather, the mailman brings us our mail. He always tries to be on time