1
[Nora]
We met this truck driver named
Leroy outside of Baltimore.
He told me that looking back,
doesn't matter how old you are,
life always feels
the same length,
like both forever
and not very long.
[imitating cackling]
[imitating cackling]
Okay.
Here you go.
Here you go.
[heavy thud]
[door closing]
Morning.
-What you got?
-Circulars.
-Circulars.
-Want to help bringing them in?
-You think I'm frail.
-They're heavy.
[chuckles] I got a couple
of Rhode Island Reds
but no Rosie.
She hasn't been
laying much, huh?
No, I put in a couple new birds
and she's outta sorts.
-You pissed her off, Nora.
-Yeah, she likes her routine.
Good morning.
Right on time, Pete.
[woman]
I brought you some soup.
So we didn't make it past
second day but we had fun time.
-But you made it.
-Yeah.
That's what counts I think
when you do anything.
Middle of the forest it dumped,
it's like an acre of boulders.
It's really amazing to see
for the first light
for few minutes.
-And then they'll take
it back out after.
-It just goes-- it'll stay in.
I'm not changing
the architectural shape
of the building.
I'm only putting
something on to it.
I can't change a wall,
I can't change this,
I can't change that.
-But it'll stay there?
-It'll stay there.
I helped her put blocks together
and then I helped finish my own
because she died when she was
on her second heart operation.
And she died in '61.
-Just these two, thanks Nora.
-Okay.
I got called
for jury duty today, told them
I know a fancy lawyer.
[man] I bet he's lousy company.
How are you doing Stew?
Okay Nora. Just stamps
for these, please.
[Nora] Okay.
[Nora] You making any toys
for this weekend?
Oh yeah, got a new one going on
now, I'm making pirate ships.
Oh, okay.
-Do you know a pirate's favorite
letter-- the alphabet is?
-I don't.
-R.
-Arrr. Yeah, that's 1.41.
Okay.
-Here you go.
-Thank you.
Okay.
It was loud. It was like
the fire alarm was going off
and then kind of as quickly
as it had come on,
it stopped and I
thought well that was strange.
I got back into bed
and it happened again
about five minutes later.
-That would freak me out.
-I opened some doors,
looked around,
-I don't know there was--
-[girl] I got
to get down to the bus.
-Okay.
-See you later.
And 15 books are forever stamps,
six first-class rolls,
and a box of priority tape.
Yeah. No, six. Yeah. 18311.
Okay. Great. Bye.
Hey hon, it's Nora. I've got
a box for you here,
I didn't want to leave it out
so I thought I'd
put it in the safe.
Door will be open till 8:00.
[hens clucking]
Hi, honey.
Hey.
Hey.
Are you going to winterize
the mower?
Yeah, I think I'm going to cut
the grass one more time.
I wouldn't leave it
out there though. Come spring
you'll be sorry.
-Okay.
-All right.
You're always worrying
about something.
Hey.
I received this letter.
I'm Bob Susskind and this is
my associate Al Catarro.
[Nora] You should have called.
Yes. We've been dealing
with several complex issues
throughout the region.
You're from Pendell?
Colewell. 18311.
[Bob] Eleanor Pancowski?
Nora.
Ms. Pancowski, decisions are
being made outside this office
with the good
of our customers in mind.
Can someone tell me what those
decisions are, exactly?
[Bob] Well, I do think it was
clear in this letter.
Well, it's not clear
in the letter
because the letter, it sounds
like you're closing my office
and terminating my position.
-That's not exactly--
-We're not closing any offices.
The letter made it sound like--
The letter says that we won't
renew your contract once it
expires this month,
but that service will be
uninterrupted for customers.
They will be serviced
by the Park Grove office.
[Bob]
And while your contract is not
going to be renewed,
there are other similar jobs
that you can apply for.
There's one in Delaney in fact
that would get you back to work
the following Monday.
You want me to move to Delaney?
Or you can pick up
a few hours at Park Grove
if you'd like I'm sure.
Part time for less pay.
This is an emotional time
but I want to be clear.
Any personal grievances
regarding this transition
must be kept private.
[Bob] It's for your own benefit.
As an employee
of this institution,
it's imperative that you keep
your own personal opinions
to yourself.
It's just better that way.
That way we can roll out
information as we see fit.
And you know,
don't rule out Delaney.
It's a kind of town--
there's family and kids,
a nice movie theater,
a couple restaurants.
A lot of amenities
for an older person.
[knocking on door]
[Pete] Nora.
[Pete] Nora?
Where do I find a mailbox
like that for at home?
I'd like to know how we're
supposed to get to Park Grove.
And I'm concerned
about the older people.
They really rely on this place.
[woman] I'll contact
a state representative,
state senator
and the district manager
and find out what's going on.
[man] I'm trying to remember
what Noxen tried.
[woman] What about Nora?
[man] I'll spend tonight looking
at similar cases to figure out
what motions they filed.
It's going to take me a little
while but there are avenues
to fight this.
[woman] That's right.
Return it all to sender.
I was getting worried about you.
You're always worrying.
I got coffee
but I'll take the eggs.
Did you leave the stock
shipment for me?
What are you waiting on?
Oh, there's just
a few things I'm short on.
There's this new guy
Terry Terrence or something
taking the orders but--
I don't get into calling them.
Take a look at those.
Woah.
Good on you, Rosie!
Yep, she's settling in.
I heard about your office.
Yeah.
How are you holding up?
I'm not supposed
to talk about it.
Says who?
Regional team. If I want
to be transferred, I have
to play nice.
They got you a spot lined up?
Delaney.
How are you going
to get to Delaney?
I guess you'll be driving me.
Look,
if they're offering you
a steady thing in Delaney,
maybe keep quiet during
all this and take the job.
Or maybe you retire.
I don't know.
Yeah. They think I'm old and I
don't have any fight left in me.
But I'm not going anywhere
and I'm sure as hell not taking
a bus to Delaney every morning.
You weren't the only notice.
I delivered one to Junedale.
I heard Mahoning Lake
got a letter.
My sister said
there's a town hall about
their office in Slate Mill.
They're all closing?
Yeah. Some closing.
Some getting evaluated.
I know an attorney
in Colewell, Gray.
He says
we have legal recourse.
Maybe so, but I wouldn't go
sticking your neck out.
It's a lot of people fighting
for a job, Nora,
in Delaney or anywhere else.
[people chattering]
Do you know I have
four chickens?
Well, I have four parakeets
and four dogs--
-Oh really?
-Twelve dogs.
-Do they all have names?
-Yes.
Do you know what
their names are?
Yes I know.
--with the biscuits.
I make the chicken in,
you know, like,
cream, peas and carrots in it
and then they eat it all
with the biscuit.
That's for Sunday dinner.
[man] Hey Nora.
Hey. How's Diana?
Where is she these days?
Well, she last week
she was in Amsterdam.
Right now she's in Berlin.
[Nora] Berlin?
Oh no. Belgium. Her gap year.
[Nora] I had a couple of those.
[man] Yeah?
[Nora]
Hitchhiked around a bit, always
wanted to go to Europe.
Was there quite a few years
and he said "Stick with me, kid,
and I'll give you the business."
Well, he did but the business
had a lot of debt
and I closed it down,
couldn't keep it open.
[woman]
I guess I'll shove off now.
Okay. Are you sure you don't
want to borrow a coat?
It's cold outside.
No, I think I'll do the fashion
thing and just go without, okay?
All right. Take care.
Go home safe.
[door opening]
[Nora] Hey.
Where you off to next?
I don't know.
Rosemary and I had
been hitching down the coast.
We went to Florida,
Carolinas, Atlanta.
Where is she?
The guy she was seeing
got out of the army
and wanted
to come along with us so.
Drivers don't like picking
up three people.
And I just got to be--
she wasn't the same thing.
I used to love to hitchhike.
I liked going
where no one knew me,
where I was just undefined.
How long have you lived here?
My husband grew up here.
He drove a truck for the quarry.
I came to Colewell in 1968
and then we bought this house
in 1970 in the spring.
I can't imagine living
in the same place
and doing the same
thing for all that time.
Well, time goes faster
when you get older.
We met this truck driver named
Leroy outside of Baltimore.
He had a glass eye.
He got sent home
sick in high school,
walked
out into the archery class
and caught an arrow in the eye.
Lost the eye.
Anyway,
he told me
the thing about getting older
is looking back,
it doesn't matter
how old you are, life always
feels the same length.
Like both forever
and not very long.
He said a fraction of that
also feels the same.
Like, for me,
thirteen years is half my life
and it feels just like
a certain amount of time.
And for you, thirty-whatever
years feels the same.
Well, however it works,
it's true.
Are you afraid of retiring?
I'm afraid of--
well,
I just--
I don't want to be lonely.
I don't think I get lonely.
Well, wait
until things slow down
and then you'll find out.
I wrote a terrible poem once.
"As I walk along the highway,
cemeteries wait,
lined with tombstones
that say things like,
'Jane Delone, my lovely wife,
and mother of two, died at 65.
But under moonlight,
her soft emerald fingers
push up through soft,
black soil.'
[imitating clucking]
Yeah.
[knocking on door]
[Nora] Just one second.
[people chattering]
[man] --meeting with the postal
service on Tuesday now.
We're going to need
town's people to speak
at the microphone.
[woman]
My landlord might be able to--
Hey Nora.
Good morning, Gray.
-Here.
-Town hall.
Well, this is a chance
to engage, okay?
-Monday okay?
-Yeah, that's fine.
Okay.
Before sealing the appeal
I made photocopies of the
signatures of all the petition.
They also submitted
an application for suspension
which would allow you to stay
open until the appeal is heard.
Thank you, Gray.
I'll let you know
how they respond.
Yeah.
[Nora] Yeah, I placed
an order and I just want
to check the status.
I need 15 sheets
of seasonal stamps, six rolls
of first-class,
a box of priority tape,
a box of first-class books.
Yeah. Okay.
Well-- well, that doesn't make
much sense because--
will you let me finish?
Did you-- Shit.
[driver] Next stop: Delaney.
[man] --talking to people
so much, you know.
Yeah. Yeah. You got to do that.
I don't know what they're coming
in for. They try to make them
feel good when they go in.
-Private email, right?
-Yes.
-Two or three days.
-Okay. Thanks.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye, bye.
-Good morning.
-[Nora] Morning.
-How's your day so far?
-Okay.
Good. What can I do for you?
I need 15 sheets
of seasonal stamps.
They're 9.20 a piece.
Okay. And then I need six rolls
of first class and I need
a box of priority tape.
I'll check the inventory.
Starting your own office?
Good evening. We're about
to get started. If everyone
could take your seats.
Thank you all
for coming out tonight
and thank you to the members
of the Postal Service
who are here
to hear our concerns.
I care a lot
about the Colwell community
and I want to hear firsthand
what the Postal Service
has to say here.
So first and foremost
let's keep this respectful
and Bob would
you like to start us off?
Sure. Well, thank you all for
coming, it's quite a turnout.
Obviously, Colewell
is a very special place.
I would like to first say
that this is-- issue is
not specific to Colewell,
it's something that's happening
all over the country
and it's hard on all of us.
Few details
to get out of the way.
If you are a customer who is
opting for rural delivery,
mail be coming
right to your door.
If you are resident who
prefers to pick up their mail
and are unable
to travel to Park Grove,
we will be installing cluster
boxes in the parking lot
adjacent
to the current location.
Uhm, well, with that, let's open
this up for discussion.
[woman] I just had a question.
How did you decide which ones--
which post offices to close?
Did it had to do
with population,
did it had to do with--
[Bob] It's a lot of factors.
It's money that's my in,
it's personnel, infrastructure.
Can you just think about this on
a human level? Also Angie and I
were just talking about this.
This thing goes into play
the way that you're talking
about with for money
and all these reasons, we're
never going to see each other.
When are
we going to see each other?
This is
the heart of our community,
where people go and congregate.
[Bob] Well, I'm not sure
it's the post office's job
to build community.
-[woman] Oh, stop.
-[Bob] It's
the post office's job--
Excuse me. Gray Albright,
lawyer for the town,
representing these people.
Now when Ben Franklin
founded the post office,
the original poster, his--
it was his decision,
he made this clear that it was
the community's decision
whether they wanted
a post office or not.
And now under Richard Nixon
it's become
a semi private institution.
Right. Right.
Yeah I want to know why you've
had this idea for months,
we get a 30-day notice?
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
Just so you know, we are
managing 15,000 leases.
I've seen these situations
change their mind overnight.
We felt no reason
to get everyone concerned
until we were certain that this
was going to happen.
You stop just before you start
telling us how much money
you're losing.
I'll tell you how much
money you're losing.
You're
losing four billion dollars
a year since the year of 2000.
Why do you think
you're going to be able
to turn us around now?
You guys think
you're the smartest people
on the planet
but if you were
in a real industry,
you'd be out on the street,
you'd be fired long gone,
simple as that because you
just can't-- you can't--
you have a cap-- you have
a captive audience.
People need to use you
and you can't even make a dime.
You know,
we've been here since 1895,
we've been good
and loyal customers,
we have a right to get
our mail in our town,
not delivered, not--
[Bob] We're not shrugging
our shoulders.
[man] I would like to know is
are we going to get
another meeting out of this?
[man] You've heard a lot
of questions tonight,
seen a lot of concern
expressed. Do we get
another meeting or not?
[Bob] This will be the only
meeting of this nature but if
you'd like to write a letter--
-[people laughing]
-[man] Mail it where?
[man] I got one more question
for you guys, you know,
on a personal level,
what's going to happen
to Nora after she loses her job?
[Bob] I think that's
a personal decision
for your postmaster and--
Hey Nora, need a ride back?
I let everybody down.
This was a formality Nora.
It wouldn't have
changed nothing.
Never...
...really wanted to move here
and now I can't seem to leave.
It's funny how you can feel
close to people
and explaining
I don't even think I know how
to have a conversation
with somebody
once I close that window.
Life's--
Life's hard in that
you lose people as you go
in all kinds of ways.
I'm in--
where am I, Hazleton.
Yeah I thought I'd try heading
up North for a little while.
I didn't know if anyone was
there, if you had a key or hit--
You sure?
O h, that's great.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, I think I just saw a ride
so I'm going to-- okay.
Thanks.
[woman]
Hey, sorry, you heading North?
Any chance I could get a ride?
[man] You okay with dogs?
Yeah, I like dogs.
All right then.
How old were you when you
first drove a truck?
[man] Are you a cop?
[man] I was 14.
[woman] Fourteen?
[man] Don't tell anybody.
[woman] I won't.
You do construction?
Quarry. The troops were
allowed at 5 a.m.
Every morning?
Mh-hm.
Been on the road long?
About a year.
You miss home?
It's been a long time being
afraid of things changing
then I realized if I didn't
leave, I never would.
You live near family?
[man] The bed I sleep in now
is about
three-quarters of a mile from
the house I grew up in.
[man]
I guess you could say I am
uneasy with change as well.
I always connected change
to my parents getting older.
Don't you get over that?
I guess so.
Wake up in a different
place every day.
I don't really feel
defined by anything.
Anymore.
I'm Andy.
Ella.
Nice to meet you, Ella.
Miss to meet you too.
[Andy] Here's Cooper.
[Ella] I saw this boy.
He's a sweetheart.
Listen, before you go, I'll give
you the number for the quarry.
You ever stuck for a ride
out here, just give a call.
Thanks.
And don't worry about change,
time passes, you got a lot
of life ahead of you.
Hi. Come on in.
All right. We
have form 3107 here
which is our application
for immediate retirement
and this one is form 991,
which is the form we use
for reassignment.
I filled out all
the pertinent information
for Delaney, it's in here.
All right. Here we go.
Ms. Pancowski,
I can't make the decision
for you but they're
both good options.
Five more years?
Ms. Pancowski, I--
Please, just give me
five more years,
we're doing okay financially.
I won't lose you money.
In five years I'll be 70,
I can retire and you can
relocate then.
This isn't my call.
I can work. I'm strong.
I can work for five
more years but I can't
start over again,
I can't.
Delaney is a very nice town.
Damn it. To hell with Delaney.
I don't live in Delaney.
You want
to start your life over again?
What are you going to do ten
years from now when this
happens to you?
This is the best I can offer.
I'm sorry.
Hey, Charles.
Yeah.
I figured I owed you.
It's hot chocolate.
You didn't have to do that.
I--
It's okay.
You know, if I'm ever passing by
this way maybe I'll stop by
for some eggs, huh?
All right.
All right.
I'll probably see
you again, huh?
Sure.
Yeah.
[sobbing]
[bird singing]
[car passing by]
It's on your shirt
You've outgrown this town
Your friends are all scattered
And you're lonesome
You're still searching
For music in the sound
It's a tame world would
Leave you unbroken
Lady, your mother
Bring your garden to me
Pulling from my body
So the world cannot see
Blue of my veins
And the tracks on my cheeks
But leave the tulips
For when I go under
But it's not over by half
There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black
And you're still standing
And your hand on the map
No, it's not over
Not over by half
And when that day comes
And the lights go dim
The weight off your shoulders
The sun off your skin
And the ones
who have known you
Your lovers and friends
Will be marked by the spark
That was taken
But it's not over by half
There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black
And you're still standing
And your hand on the map
No, it's not over
Not over by half
Here on the mountain
I'm thinking of you
Birds are all singing
Screaming of youth
And here I am holding
Keeping a room
Just a place you can lay
When you're older
But it's not over by half
There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black
And you're still standing
And your hand on the map
No, it's not over
Not over by half