Out of touch

With traditional mail rendered almost obsolete by email and social media, post offices and postal workers are losing their relevance.

In France, less than five customers a day turn up at many village post offices, Philippe Wahl, the head of La Poste, recently told the French Senate.

Letter and parcel deliveries constituted 70 percent of the postal service’s business in 1990, but this is projected to fall to 15 percent by the end of 2024, according to Wahl.

To stay in business, the post office is offering alternative services. Its drivers now deliver food, specifically meals, to mostly elderly people in community centers, hospitals and caterers, Wahl said.

Increasing meal deliveries may keep France’s 65,000 postmen employed, he added. La Poste is targeting 10 million deliveries this year.

Meanwhile, the declining number of postal patrons does not necessarily mean they have embraced technology to communicate.

Famed “Magnum P. I.” actor Tom Selleck was being interviewed by People magazine about his upcoming memoir titled “You Never Know” when he shared one of the book’s revelations about himself.

“I’ve never sent my own email. I had a secretary. I’ve never texted anybody,” he said, Fox News reports.

Selleck added that his wife of 37 years, Jillie Mack, sends texts on his behalf.