Random Thoughts on Independence Day 2025 Chickens and the Post Office
- Kate Monroe
- Jul 6
- 4 min read
“Freedom is the open window
through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”
President Herbert Hoover
My chicken story was written in my journal in early January 2025. Today as I spend this 4th of July in quiet reflection, “Chickens at the Post Office” comes to mind and heart. So, I decided to share.
Did you know that you can ship a live chicken through the US Mail? I did not.
For the first time in almost two weeks I went out today to mail a few things and run errands. As I approached the front door of my local post office, a young man was walking ahead of me carrying four small cardboard animals crates. The crates were bolding labeled, “LIVE BIRDS INSIDE.” I couldn’t help myself so I asked the stranger what kind of birds and he responded, “Chickens — one per box.” Two were two years old and the other two crates held one year old chickens.
As he moved forward with his flock, there were only three people in attendance, the postal clerk, the chicken man and me. To my surprise, I learned that you can, in fact, ship a live chicken from Nashville, Tennessee, to California for $100-$130 per chicken.
The two year old birds were quickly stamped and on their way to California; scheduled to arrive there the next day. The duo of one year olds were headed to a small town in Texas. The fare, $100 per bird, to give those chickens a two day ride to the longhorn state.
You know, it is a wonder out there if you just leave your home or office for a few minutes. The post office is such a cross section of people and packages coming and going all over the world. You just never know what you will find there. Once, I was in a post office across town, when the man ahead of me got mad at the clerk for not taking care of him fast enough. Before I knew it, he was yelling at the clerk and threatening her to come back in and blow them all away.
I felt such relief when he stormed out through the lobby and the front door. For a moment, life was peaceful again. Just as I stepped up to the counter, the angry man reappeared carrying a small pistol. Talk about weak at the knees — the five seconds that he waved the gun in the air was like watching a horror movie in slow motion. Both clerks instantly crouched behind the counter while a couple more patrons and I stood there frozen - no place to hide. Clearly the customer had gone postal and for a few seconds, that seemed like hours, it occurred to me that I might loose my life for a postage stamp.
Perhaps realizing that he was way over reacting, the gunman wheeled around and raced back out the front door - not another word. The clerk stood up and handed me my stamps. “Just another day with the crazies,” she noted. I don’t even know if they called the police. All the witnesses offered to stay and tell the police what we saw, but the staff said it was under control and to just leave. As I turned to go, the last person in line offered me a gift, a Jehovah Witness pocket sized day planner and asked if I was saved. I clinched the faux leather book and stood shaking inside the door as the angry, gun welding citizen speed away. The two of us (the book and I) had witnessed a miracle at the Fessler’s Lane USPS and yes we are and were saved.
So, let’s circle back to the chickens at the post office. Those must have been some expensive birds if the buyer was willing to pay $100 dollars per bird for airfare facilitated by the US Mail.
I can’t help but think how scary it must be to be a two year old chicken riding in a cardboard box traveling with stacks of mail to parts unknown. In all the time that I spent with the bird man and the postal clerk; the chickens, not one of them, made a peep. Hero breeder birds risking life and limb in boxes with filtered holes and no food or water on the way, got weighed on the same scale as my oversized letter. In the dead of winter, in a small outpost post office in Nashville, Tennessee, those birds were stamped, moved to the stack of mail behind the clerk and left in the care of the US Mail.
Just before I fell asleep last night I wondered how would you prepare a living creature for such a journey? I hope they got a really good meal and a chance to say goodbye to their family and friends. And as I lay in the darkness in the quiet of my bedroom I thought of all the correspondence - love letters, death certificates, birth certificates, offers to grow hair and buy sofas on sale, letters to Santa and to God, wedding invitations and live chickens that pass through the post office each day. Life is complex and you have to get out of your home, your office, your cocoon, to open your mind to what is and what might be.
Due to news stories and current events around ICE and immigration, when I close my eyes at night I see those birds in boxes sitting on the counter at the post office, silent, confined and scared. One day they had been going about their routine, laying eggs or picking up bugs; doing their job, and the next in a cramped box wondering why and what would happen next. My heart has compassion for them all, chickens and humans, and these nights I pray more and sleep less wondering why and what will happen next.
Notes: Tennessee law allows most adults to carry a handgun without a permit in public, as long as they meet certain requirements. No background check is required. The law went into effect on July 1, 2021. It is illegal to carry a handgun into a government building.
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