TTPost gives new meaning to ‘snail mail’

THE EDITOR: I received a birthday card on December 14. Given that my birthday was on November 14, it was a "belated" card. When I enquired from the relative who sent it, she said it was posted at the La Romaine post office "the end of October." For calculation purposes, we'll use November 1. So the card took 44 days to reach me.

When e-mail became popular (and mail could reach anywhere in the world within seconds), the term "snail mail" was invented to refer to traditional mail. It was just a way to distinguish between the two types of mail. But TTPost is trying hard to make the meaning literal.

According to snail-world.com, a snail travels at a "speed" of about half an inch per second, on the low end; it varies from 0.5-0.8 inches per second. This translates into 45-72 metres/hour. For easy calculation, we'll use 50 m/h = 0.05 km/h. And, remember, that's for a relatively slow snail.

So here's a good SEA question: If a snail travels at 0.05 km/h, how far will it go in 44 days? Answer: 52.8 km.

The distance from my relative's home to mine’s is 12 km (as the crow flies or, in this case, as the snail crawls). It's 18 km by road. Assume she had employed a snail to deliver the card.

Next question: Moving at a speed of 0.05 km/h, how long will the snail take to cover a distance of 12 km? Answer: ten days.

Even if the snail chose to travel by road, it would have taken only 15 days. And if it took eight hours off every day for bathroom breaks and resting, it would take about 22 days. That's half of what TTPost took.

I daresay using "snail mail" to refer to TTPost is a great affront, indeed, to the speedy snail.

PS: Perhaps TTPost could explain why a card posted "end of October" in La Romaine is postmarked "Nov 27, Piarco?" And why are most letters not stamped with the date of posting? Surely, it cannot be for speedier delivery.

NOEL KALICHARAN

via e-mail