OPINION: Days of the postie may be numbered

IT DOESN’T seem that long ago that we all waited patiently for the postman to blow his whistle as he dropped our letters in the box outside our homes.

IT DOESN'T seem that long ago that we all waited patiently for the postman to blow his whistle as he dropped our letters in the box outside our homes.

I wasn't that anxious because most of the letters I received just told me how much I owed some company.

My first paid job as a schoolboy was riding a red PMG bike delivering telegrams.

I got to know a lot of the posties and they were all nice blokes who were well liked in the community.

They knew most of the people on their run by name and often have a chat with them before moving down the street.

As time has past the postman has progressed from traipsing around with a heavy pack full of mail to zipping anonymously across front yards on 90cc motor scooters.

Now it seems they may not even be doing that on a daily basis anymore as Australia Post's latest financial report reveals we have all stopped writing letters.

The result is for the first time in history the Aussie post office isn't making millions; in fact they have now gone into the red.

What has helped to hold them up in the past decade has been the many pensioners who continued to scorn the use of computers and instead kept on dropping down to the local post office to send away their letters.

This group is now posting their letters from heaven and as a result the mail trail is coming to a stop.

Parcels are now the only thing holding up Australia Post's revenues.

Originally published as OPINION: Days of the postie may be numbered