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Ed just received a postcard I sent from Mostar on Dec 9th 2013. He got it on his birthday, Jan 21, 2014. Which is about 6 weeks.
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Now to be honest, I am not surprised. I had read (from a guide book that loves Bosnia like I do) that the Postal System is the last refuge of the old Yugoslavian Communist Bureaucracy. It took 4 weeks from Sarajevo and 6 weeks from Mostar.
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And this prompts me to three different thoughts about mail and time.
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First - mail is too slow for people now a days. I mean I mail postcards and all, and I get a few. Most people view my habit as a quirk in my nature and they indulge me. Most send postcards or notes to me as an odd favor from another time (my Mother is great at that) and there is one friend who loves mail like I do (I am looking at you Patti G).
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But for most people, the instant and banal has replaced the delayed and banal. But instant says "look at me" and the postcard says "I am thinking of you. Enough of you to take the time to write this, go to a post office and send it to you."
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I still love the instant. In Moster the day I sent this, I also "Faced Time"d with Ed and saw my pup, I posted to Nincompoopery. I am not averse to instant, but I see it as an addition, not a substitute.
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I think I miss the I am thinking of you part of communication.
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Second, imagine the world just a few decades ago, where mails was super fast!
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In the 80's I was still using a teletype to hammer out details for the law firm I worked for, while working with our Australian partners. Phones couldn't handle data. Lawyers actually used to buy plane tickets for students to take documents or equipment to Europe (the cheapest way of going, FYI). Air Mail used to be blindingly fast.
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Imagine… at the end of World War 1 and World War 2, the President of the Untied States had to travel (in the case of Wilson, for weeks) to attend peace conferences. Decision were made right then and there. If you sent Jefferson to Paris for a treaty, you delegated power. When Citibank sent me to Singapore a few years ago, they delegated nothing. They decided overnight or by video conference if they had to. Only culpability of failure was delegated (success was a product of excellent work back in the office).
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Instantaneous is really really new.
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Third, before 1840, regular people (as opposed to governments or really really rich people with couriers) could NOT communicate directly via long distances. There was no post or mail available to the average Joe. And now mail is antiquated and inadequate.
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Wow!
260BC to 1840 AD - mail only for the governmental few (2100 years)
1840 to 1998 - mail for all (158 years)
1998 to 2013 - mail for junk / Fed EX for speed (15 years)
Mail is essentially obsolete now… If you want to move documents quickly you can internet, FAX or (if you must) Fed Ex.
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Send a post card while you can.