“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” was written by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus about Persian couriers. It was adopted by a Post Office building in the United States in 1912.
(The Great Courses – The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World)
Two weeks ago I noticed I did not get any mail on a given day by 4:30pm. I called my local post master and inquired as to when I could expect my mail delivered that day. The weather was good…no snow, rain, hail, sleet or gloom of night (yet). I was told that my route had been spilt into 3 different mail carriers that day and I could still expect my mail before the end of the day at 6pm. I awoke the next morning to find an empty mailbox (we get mail everyday, I knew there would be something in there). I called the postmaster again and he told me that the carrier did not get a chance to deliver the mail to my street.
So hogwash is that statement of guaranteed delivery…there should have been an exception to that rule like: the carrier doesn’t have to if he runs out of time (6pm) or is sick.