Scene from the Cadyville NY Post Office

During my recent visit to NY, I had a slightly surreal experience at a small post office in Cadyville NY (population 2781).

I walked into the tiny post office on a snowy, cold day right around new years (Temp: 6 degrees F). Nobody was behind the desk, which was alright since I still needed to address my packages. An older lady shuffled in while I was still filling out the address labels.

"Good morning, Jim!" she said as she approached the desk. 

Jim was still hidden from sight, so she must have just known he was working that morning. Jim came out from the back office, greeted her by name and the two of the chatted about grandchildren and the holidays.

I marveled at the quaintness of it all, the cozy small town feel, where everyone is on a first name basis with the post office guy.

Then the lady said "This package is going to Australia," and my brain sort of exploded.