I Miss Receiving Snail Mails

June 15, 2006

Oh dear, it’s been quite a while since I last received a mail, a snail mail I mean. Handwritten mail. Mailed through the post office. Stamped. Delivered by a mailman. I miss that kind of thing. Receiving a mail has always warmed me inside.

I left my parents in the province when I was 13. That was 1989. The relative with whom I lived here in Manila had no telephone line. I had no cellphone (it wasn’t a craze yet in the country at that time). It was costly to call my folks in the province through paid phone lines. Email was not the “in” thing yet. So the only way my folks and I communicated was through mail—snail mail. It was also the only way I could get updates from the friends I left in the province.

I remember how, after classes, I would wait at the gate of my uncle’s house for the mailman. It was like waiting for midnight to come during Christmas when I was a little girl so I could see what Santa Claus had slipped into the stocking (or sock) I hung. I was always full of anticipation. It was the only connection I had with the people I love back in the province and with some friends and relatives abroad. The snail mails helped me survive homesickness and boredom.

I seldom receive snail mails nowadays. If I do, they are not personal mails. Either they come from credit card companies or manufacturers and merchandisers offering discounts and promotions. Maybe people are now too busy (or lazy) to write. Some people just prefer the more convenient way: send messages through email. Not that I have something against the Internet. In fact, I am awed by the wonderful benefits it can give to mankind. But emails lack personal touch unlike a handwritten, personal mail. Whenever I receive a handwritten personal mail, it feels like I am given a gift. There’s something about it that excites me or even thrills me. It makes me smile knowing that the person who had sent the mail took time out to write and drop by the post office. I get overwhelmed by the sender’s thoughtfulness. Such a mail is so valuable to me.