Today I met my mailman. I live in an apartment complex. I haven't ever seen him while he was delivering the mail before, although I've seen the truck parked outside. Today, I had a piece of mail that was delivered to my mailbox that wasn't for me. I happened to see the mailman walking to the next building. I thought to myself, I'll save myself the trouble of going back upstairs and writing on the envelope, "not at this address", and later driving to a blue mailbox. We don't have a blue box in our neighborhood. So, I followed him. He appeared to be young as I followed him to the next set of mailboxes. He certainly was walking at a good pace. I caught up to him and after saying hello, I explained why I was handing him an envelope. He looked at the envelope and read the address. He said my last name and said, "oh, I try not to let this happen." I was impressed he had memorized the names at the mailboxes. This is a big neighborhood. We chatted for a few minutes. He was so nice. We talked about Covid 19 and making ends meet. He worked a second job as a dishwasher but the restaurant was closed. I told him what I did part time to make grocery money. As we were parting, I told him my first name and he told me his. We laughed about his name. Swan, the name of a bird. I jokingly called him George. As I walked away with a smile on my face, I was glad that I had met him. He was a nice young man.
That was a couple of days ago. Today, I wonder how he is feeling. I wonder if he was protesting. You see my friendly mailman, is a young black man, in an America that is suffering from unrest. I look forward to seeing Swan again, to making sure he knows that when I met him, I met him. I met a bright, young, hardworking American. And I stand with him. #BlackLivesMatter
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