By Moses Leos III
’Twas the week before Christmas and all through the land,
Children procure papers and pens in hand
They scribble and scrabble to their hearts’ content,
Informing Santa of the presents they want sent.
Dreams of toys and games roam through their minds,
Hoping the Big Man in red opines
To deem them nice, and never naughty,
For a coal in their stocking has meant they’ve been haughty.
But how many letters to Santa are mailed?
To which nation is the man in red the most hailed?
To this, we look to CNN, at a glance
which compiled that information in a 2013 article*, by chance,
France led all nations in 2012,
putting roughly 1.7 million letters in the mail,
Our neighbors, Canada, were second in line,
sending 1.35 million letters, hopefully on time.
The United States was third, ahead of Brazil and Great Britain
Over a million letters were dispatched from American children
All told, the number of Santa letters sent was vast,
According to the Universal Postal Union, which coordinates that,
Over 7 million letters from 192 nations,
Sent their wishes to their local postal stations.
But Santa isn’t the world’s only joy bearer,
Look no further than your local UPS or postal carrier,
According to an article from the USA Today*,
Those brave souls busiest day was Monday.
An estimated 34 million packages were delivered,
Bringing the total packages to 585 million, but consider…
How will they get those packages to the door, especially after last year’s near disaster?
Bad weather, high demand, kept packages from arriving,
Creating tension filled moments, coinciding,
With UPS dedicating over $1 billion bucks,
Investing in more facilities, personnel and trucks,
But what about the postal carriers, our national heroes,
who toil in weather no one goes?
According to the International Business Times,
the United States Postal Service inclines,
To ship 15.5 billion cards, letters and packages, you see,
And that’s just in the year 2014.
So as you welcome the holidays, remember the work of others, if not for the reason,
That those postmen and women are busy shipping, sorting and stacking during this busy season.
*Information gathered from Dec. 23, 2013 article, “Dear Santa, How many letters do you get every year?” by Eoghan Macguire and Inez Torre
*Information gathered from Dec. 14 article, UPS hopes for a merrier Christmas in 2014” by Aamer Madhani, USA Today
