Planes at the Post Office

Parcel tucked under her arm, Katie waited for the traffic to stop at the zebra crossing and quickly hurried towards the post office, lifting her hand in thanks to the cars who had stopped. She pushed on the heavy door and prayed that there wasn't a queue.

One desk closed. Damn! But only one person ahead of her at the other and the man currently being dealt with seemed to be wrapping things up. Katie was rushing. Wasn't this just life nowadays? It always seemed to be the case for her. So much to do and very small moments in which to get it all done. She still had to get some groceries and collect her son from his after school club and cook dinner and this parcel couldn't be left any longer to be sent. It was already going to arrive late for her mother's birthday.

She tapped her foot. Come on! Come on! she thought.

"I'm so glad you kept this poster for me," the man at the counter was saying. "I love planes and when I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I really appreciate you keeping it for me."

Katie could see the lady behind the counter nodding, placating the old man as he continued to witter on. Eventually, he moved away and the woman ahead of her, who only seemed to have parcels to drop off, took his place.

The old man was going past Katie when the lady behind the counter called out:

"Excuse me, sir! Your receipt!"

In a world of his own, he hadn't heard and so Katie said, even though she knew that it was going to prolong her time in the post office, "Excuse me, but I think you've left your receipt behind."

The old man looked at her, bewildered and replied, "Oh! Receipt! Do I need it?" He stood in indecision, looking towards the door and then back at the counter. "Oh, I don't know that I need it. Shall I get it?"

The lady at the counter was waving the receipt around and so Katie, taking charge, walked to the counter and took it to the old man. "There you go. There's no harm in having it, is there?" she said kindly and the old man replied, "No, I suppose not. I don't think I need it though. But I'll take it anyway."

Katie moved forward slightly towards the counter where the lady ahead of her was now being served, the old man clutching a cardboard tube in his hand, still standing next to her. He was holding the receipt and continued talking.

"I've got this poster, you see, and I couldn't get it the other day and so the ladies here kept it for me."

Katie turned to the man whilst keeping an eye on the counter. She wondered what the receipt was for if he was collecting something but she didn't query him. He was tall, balding, with glasses, tidily dressed with a tie, slightly florid in complexion.

"It's of planes, you see. I love planes especially the Red Arrows and this poster is of them in formation. They really are marvellous," he enthused, his eyes lighting up.

Katie nodded, not really sure what to say, knowing nothing about planes.

"When I saw it, I thought, "I've got to have that". I'm not sure where I'm going to put it but I couldn't let it go."

"Good for you," Katie smiled. The lady ahead of her was just finishing up.

"My grandson loves them too and he'll be thrilled when he sees it." The old man was making no sign of moving off. "I saw them, you know, at a gala once."

"Oh yes?" Katie said politely.

"Yes, it was like a dream come true. I always wanted to be in the RAF."

The lady moved past her and the counter was empty.

A queue had formed behind Katie now. The old man was just going to expand on his flying ambitions when Katie had to make a decision and so she said, "I'm sorry about this but it's my turn now" and took a step towards the counter.

"Oh right." The old man looked a little chagrined and saddened and shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly. "Well, yes, I better go too. Don't want to hold people up."

Katie felt a pang of guilt at putting her own postal needs first but she'd have lost her place in the queue if she'd not moved forward. She couldn't help feeling sorry for the man though as she reached the counter.

*

Leaving the post office, Katie moved quickly, dodging past dawdlers and dog walkers, who were taking in the wonderful English architecture of the beautiful town in which she lived. She'd parked in a car park where you had to pay but she hadn't rather naughtily - she was only going to be minutes - and she was anxious to get back in case by some misfortune the warden was patrolling. She was getting close when she saw, shambling in front of her the old man from the post office. His shoulders were stooped. His progress spoke of loneliness; he looked forlorn and this impression pressed itself on Katie and reached into her, making her suddenly feel incredibly sad.

In a sudden impulse, she decided to do something that she knew she really didn't have time for and she would probably regret but in that moment, she wasn't sure that she couldn't act on it. She came alongside the man and said, "Hello again."

He started, jolting in surprise.

"Oh!" he said, looking bewildered.

Katie was feeling more doubtful now about her good intentions and so explained who she was. "I'm the lady you were talking to just now in the post office? I didn't mean to startle you."

He looked at her more closely now and said, "Oh, that's right." Katie still wasn't sure that he recognised her but ploughed on anyway.

"I'm walking this way too. I had to cut you off, in the queue. You were telling me about your poster?"

And this was the spark that ignited him into recognition.

"Yes! The poster! It's of planes, you know. I love planes."

Katie nodded.

"My grandson does too. He'll be thrilled when he sees it. It's of the Red Arrows in formation and it's got the bluest sky and you can see the trails they're leaving behind them."

"It sounds great," Katie said.

"It is!" the old man said, enthusiastically, "and I can't wait for him to see it." He paused. "I'm actually going to see him later but now, I'm meeting my daughter for tea."

"How lovely!" Katie said.

"Yes, I'm taking her out, because she does so much for me, even though she has the twins." The old man looked directly at Katie then and earnestly spoke. "Do you know I love those children? An old man like me! They make me laugh so much and it fills my heart to walk around with them, gripping the end of my finger. It sounds daft to say it, a grown man like me, but I do!"

Katie smiled, the man's love for his grandchildren coming out so clearly and honestly making her feel warm towards him.

"Well, that sounds lovely and I'm sure that they love you too."

"I hope so." The old man's expression clouded a little. "I don't have a lot that makes me happy nowadays, you know."

Katie said nothing but let him continue.

"I've been diagnosed with dementia, you know. They don't know what sort but that's what the doctors think I've got."

Katie sympathised, her expression showing concern. "I'm sorry to hear that."

He nodded and said,"Well, yes, it was a shock and I'm not allowed to drive now and my son has to work, you know, because that's what has to happen so he can't be there all the time. And my daughter's busy with the twins."

Katie was getting a full picture of this man's life and felt for him enormously. Her empathy for a lonely soul kept her on the street, listening to a stranger tell his story.

"And my wife divorced me." Here, he winced and the pain of this crossed his features. "It was a complete surprise. I had no idea. I thought we were alright but she said she didn't want to be married to me anymore and just left. Just like that."

Katie placed her hand on the man's arm as a gesture of support and understanding and said, "I'm sorry."

"Yes, well," he said, shaking his head,"I was not prepared for that at all."

Katie wondered if his wife's leaving had been as a result of his rising dementia. Could it be that she had spotted the signs and had not wanted to be tethered to someone who would need her support indefinitely and who she wouldn't be able to recognise as the same man she married in the months, years to come? Katie was making leaps here but would it be so surprising? And now, the son and daughter were the ones shouldering the responsibility of their father as he steadily slipped away.

"I've got good neighbours though. A woman on a horse offered to take me into town the other day." He paused. "Not on the horse, mind you!" He laughed. "No, in her car!"

Katie laughed, glad that the mood had lightened a little as whilst she didn't want to leave him, she knew that she really did need to head off. "Well, that's good that you have people around you. What time are you meeting your daughter?"

"Oh, at 4.30." He looked at his watch. "In fact, I'd better head there now."

Katie smiled. "Do you know where you're going?"

He looked at her and said, "Yes, to the hotel in the high street. I know where it is." He positioned himself in the direction of the hotel and Katie knew that he knew.

"Well, it's been lovely talking to you. My name's Katie, by the way." She held out her hand.

"My name's Gerry," the old man said, taking her hand. "It's been lovely talking to you too. Everyone's so nice," he added.

"Good," Katie said. "Glad to hear it."

Gerry was starting to shamble off in the direction of the hotel when Katie added, "Hope to see you again, Gerry. Take care and have a nice tea with your daughter. And I hope your grandson likes that poster."

Gerry stopped, turned and said, "Thank you." He smiled. "I hope so too, for all those things you mentioned," and he waved his poster in the tube at Katie and turned to proceed along the street.

Katie was going to have to get the groceries later. She was very much off schedule, messing with time that she didn't have but, where this would normally stress her out, she didn't feel tense at all. She wasn't even concerned about a parking ticket.

Gerry, however, and her encounter with him stayed with her long beyond the five minutes they spent together.