Iowa Postal Worker Rescues Elderly Woman From Frigid Fall

Wikipedia reminds us that workers with the United States Postal Service (USPS) take an "oath" of sorts when they start, saying "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

There are no exceptions but sometimes, there are additions to the rule

A story from KCCI in Des Moines shows how sometimes, that oath can include helping neighbors in distress. Most of us in relatively good shape and health were complaining incessantly last week about the frigid cold weather, and at times that included some dangerous surface conditions, too. Even the healthiest and most robust individuals can be caught off guard and fall on our tushes or worse. But for elderly seniors, it's often a little more of a rough go. Linda Houlton reportedly headed out to get her mail in subzero temps last week when she then fell and couldn't get up (to paraphrase the famous commercial). That's when Chris Meyer put his postal "oath" to work.

The substitute carrier was a little late, much to the benefit of Linda Houlton

Bitter cold weather + the mailman being late can be a recipe for frustration. Based on security footage from Linda's home, it took 19 minutes for anyone to come to her aid, and it just happened to be postal service "fill-in" Meyer who was taking part of a route that wasn't his normal one, covering for an absent co-worker.

Meyer picked her up, walked her to the house, and brought her mail to her. He said he simply thought about it as if it were his own mother or grandmother.

There's even better news

This Iowa nice type of story may happen more often than we know, but it sure is heartwarming when we get to hear about it. Linda Houlton isn't hurt and has a sense of humor about the whole thing, saying "I'm not going to go out and check the mail in the wintertime anymore." Can't blame her. It was probably mostly junk mail and bills anyway, right? She triple-thanked her mail carrier, rescuer, and good samaritan Chris Meyer in the KCCI piece, which you can find here.

Thanks to Chris Meyer and all our mail carriers and others who do their work in such difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions, while also looking out for others who struggle in those conditions.