With a Canada Post strike on the horizon, Canadian Mennonites are in a panic trying to figure just how on earth they’re going to communicate with their friends and relatives in distant locales.
“I’ve heard some Mennonites have fallen away from the church and use this thing called the emails and the Internets,” said Mrs. Agatha Vogt of Leamington. “Some are even on Facebook and read schputting websites, yet. Nah, Junges, that doesn’t seem right to me.”
Letter-writing may be a dying art in the rest of society, but Mrs. Vogt and others have dedicated themselves to preserving this quaint, mildly inefficient communication method.
“I sure hope they don’t strike. I’ve got dozens of unused stamps,” said Vogt. “I’ve even got a stack of pre-paid postcards I still need to send.”
With the very real possibility of being completely cut off from contact with the outside world, mail-dependent Mennonites have taken to drastic measures including the installation of a vast network of telegraph machines.
“We’re hoping to teach everyone Morse code before this strike hits,” said Mr. Art Kornelson, Emergency Co-ordinator for the Leamington region. “If we can’t get everyone up to speed on it, I can’t imagine how we could possibly communicate otherwise. We’re in quite the pickle.”
Union leaders at Canada Post have graciously agreed to place the strike vote on hold until its possible effect on Mennonites can be fully assessed.
(Photo credit by Peter Glyn/CC)
