The Pony Express

I get angry about late mail.

Ask any of my family and they'll tell you it’s one of my pet peeves.

I received a Christmas card last week that was mailed from a friend in northern Illinois on December 18.

December 18!

I like and support our local mail carriers. I think they do a wonderful job when the mail gets here.

It’s the getting here part that baffles me.

I guess we’ve got it better than they did in the past, though.

At least I always thought so, until I did some research on the Pony Express.

The Pony Express consisted of 400 horses, 80 riders, and nearly 200 relay stations scattered every 10 to 15 miles across the American Frontier.

Mail that previously took 24 days at best to travel across the country now arrived in just 10.

10 days...in 1860!

That’s efficiency. What happened?

Of course it was dangerous. The express only lasted 18 months and during that time six riders died.

But the mail was delivered in a timely manner.

I jest. I don’t want anybody dying so I can receive my Christmas card during the actual holiday season.

It seems though, that in some cases the old ways were better.

Take text messaging.

We’re essentially back to the telegraph.

Everything circles back into fashion.

I, for one, can’t wait for drive-in theaters and full service gas stations to return.

See you out there.