And if you live in Oamaru, you can probably thank mail officers Geoff Loe and Bryce Gilchrist.
For the past 40 years, the pair have worked for NZ Post in Oamaru and are the organisation’s two longest-serving employees still working.
Eager to leave secondary school, both former Waitaki Boys’ High School pupils applied for the same job.
‘‘I wasn’t allowed to leave school until I had a job,’’ Mr Loe said.
Thanks to higher maths grades, Mr Loe, then 16, was the successful applicant.
‘‘I went to the interview on the Monday and three days later I was working,’’ he said.
But Mr Gilchrist did not have to wait long until opportunity knocked - he was hired three months later.
Neither man expected to still be working for the postal service 40 years later.
Mr Gilchrist was not even going to apply for the job, until his parents changed his mind.
When the two men started working at the post office in 1981, it was in the Waitaki District Council building.
Now their office is tucked away in France St, where Mr Gilchrist is the first point of contact.
As a bright-eyed 17-year-old, he had his first post run on Cape Wanbrow.
‘‘It was the run that nobody wanted because it was so steep,’’ he said.
Manning a 26-inch gearless bike and carrying hundreds of letters, he braved the hills every day - but there were some perks.
Many older people lived on the South Hill and they appreciated getting their mail, he said. So much so, he would often be offered drinks and fresh fruit.
Now he split his time between the mail room and the post office box lobby, starting his days at 2am.
During his time in the postal service, he had made many connections with people, Mr Gilchrist said.
‘‘They don’t forget you,’’ he said.
For Mr Loe, it is the variety the role offers that has kept him there for so long.
‘‘Between processing and delivering ... I think if I was just a postie day in and day out, I probably would have left by now,’’ Mr Loe said.
Over the years the two men had seen a major rise in online shopping and a drop in the number of letters sent.
‘‘There’s still something about a personal letter,’’ Mr Gilchrist.
Between developments in technology and changes in what they deliver, one thing has remained over the past 40 years — the mail is delivered no matter what.
In 2017, a state of emergency was declared in Oamaru due to flooding, but it did not stop Mr Loe from hopping on a motorbike and getting mail to people.
Covid-19 had also proved to be challenging, but like other essential workers, they got the job done, Mr Loe said.
With retirement looming, the two men have no plans for a late-life career change.
‘‘We have a really good team in Oamaru,’’ Mr Loe said.
‘‘It can’t be that bad if I’m still here.’’
