Special Delivery (article)

Meet the friendliest mail carrier in Omaha ... or at least the Old Market

by Heather Heier Lane | Encounter Magazine, Omaha Publications

Anyone who spends a fair amount of time in the Old Market is bound to run across Becky Palma. No, she is not a shop keeper, a restaurant employee or even a resident. So what makes Palma such a big part of this always trendy and ever growing area? She actually plays an integral part by delivering and picking up the mail. But what makes her extra special is that due to the nature of the Old Market neighborhood, she is almost like an ambassador for the area in addition to her regular duties. While many in her same position deliver to residential neighborhoods, with clients who are often away at work when they do the bulk of their deliveries, Palma gets to know her clients and the businesses they run. With 400 apartments and condos and 85 businesses on her route, in the heart of the Old Market, she always knows what is going on. She is often approached by people on the street looking for directions and is more than happy to help tourists find the perfect place for lunch, or to buy grandma that special birthday gift.

Palma has been delivering mail since 1984, and when her current route opened up a few years back she jumped at the chance to be a part of this exciting part of town, where Palma says, ”I have the nicest customers in the world.” She points out that with the way shops are set up she cannot simply drop mail at the door, rather she has to enter the stores and deliver the mail to the counters. This is where she often gets the opportunity to say hello and quickly catch up with her clients. Her customers appreciate her kindness and are taken by the old-fashioned feel of having a real relationship with their postal carrier. It all feels very organic, and the Old Market, with its brick roads and centuries old buildings, is the perfect setting for this slice of Americana. You can almost imagine a rendering of Palma in a quaint shop chatting up a client in a Norman Rockwell type painting. 

Susan Davies, who owns Soul Desires Bookstore along with her husband David Davies, describes  Palma as wonderfully authentic and points out that her enthusiasm is contagious. “Basically everyday is a great day to Becky, and the way she interacts with you conveys that. It is a bright spot in the day when she encounters you each morning,” says Davies. Ironically, before Palma became her mail carrier the person who delivered mail to Davies at Soul Desires was yet another great character—who just happens to be Palma’s husband. Yep, you read that right, Palma met her husband Art at a Union meeting and they have been happily married for 14 years.

Palma smiles when she describes her husband as the nicest man on earth. Together they have five grown sons and eight grandsons, with a ninth grand baby on the way. Is it a boy or a girl? That is perhaps the one thing Palma is not privy to, but either way she is happy as can be—and it shows. And you can bet that once that baby is born Palma will gladly show pictures of her new grand child to her friends in the Old Market. 

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