Delivering mail in winter takes patience

Steve Post, U.S. mail carrier at the McCook Post Office, enjoys his time inside sorting mail, before starting his route outside. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette)

McCOOK, Nebraska -- After 32 years of delivering the mail, United State Post Office mail carrier Steve Post knows the value of comfortable shoes.

He has three pairs.

He estimated he walks about six and half miles a day, so good shoes and the right clothing go a long way in his line of work.

The recent spate of frigid temperatures is par for the course in Nebraska, and for a mail carrier, requires a little patience.

Bundled up in scarves, gloves and layers of clothes make it a little harder to deliver the mail, Post said, as he can't feel the envelopes. He also has to move slower on his route, to navigate snowy sidewalks or patches of ice.

But despite the frosty winters and scorching summers, Post says he enjoys his job.

"I like being outdoors and I like the people," he said. Several on his route Post has known for years and "they feel my pain," he laughed.

So how he does he deal with cold weather? It's mind over matter, he said.

"I turn it off," he said, tapping his head. "You have to do it, so you just do it and don't think about it."