This episode of Christmas Past discusses Santa Claus in a context that's not suitable for very young listeners.

Grownups, please enjoy this episode on your own. Thanks.

For us, the light is always on, because when people trust us enough to just drop off their mail and just drive away

with no thought of what's going to happen to it next, that tells us they know what's going to happen.

I'm talking to Gus Ruiz about the U.S. Postal Service.

He's the spokesman for the Postal Service here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he loves his work.

Well, I love my work.

What I consider the real creed of the United States Postal Service, and it really bears...

Admit it.

During the Christmas season, checking the mailbox is part of the emotional arc of your day.

It's like a mini Christmas in itself, with cards arriving in brightly colored envelopes,

maybe with stickers and festive rubber stamps and holiday postage stamps on them,

packages arriving that instruct you don't open until Christmas,

or well wishes coming from friends and family and forgotten acquaintances all over the place.

Heck, even some of the catalogs are welcome surprises.

I'll bet you never stop to think about just how much of Christmas

wouldn't be possible without the Postal Service.

Americans are responsible for 40% of all the mail sent in the world,

and the busiest mailing day of the year, of course,

falls during the Christmas

season. In 2015, the Postal Service processed over 600 million pieces of mail on December 14th,

and it delivered about 13 billion cards, letters, and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas

...