Residents of a Northwest D.C. neighborhood got together to celebrate a beloved mail carrier Saturday after his final run before retirement.
Rob Robinson was a mail carrier for more than 30 years.
“I want to just thank everybody for being so warm to me. I will miss you all. I really will. I won’t miss pounding that pavement, but I’ll miss the people,” Robinson said amid laughs.
Residents along his route in the Tenleytown neighborhood came out to make sure he knew he would be missed, too, decorating over a hundred signs and leaving them up all week to show their appreciation.
"He shows up in all kinds of weather. He's pleasant, he's not grouchy. He's very helpful to people. We're crazy about him," resident Richard Bienvenue said.
Apart from dozens of signs in yards that said “congratulations” and “thank you,” some neighbors got creative and wrote poems on signs on his route.
Four signs, when put together, read, “Rob’s a good one // his customers rave // as for mailmen // he’s our fave!”
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At a socially distanced retirement party, one woman said Robinson did his job "amazingly well," but that the community wanted to thank him for more than that. They say he looks out for residents with an uplifting attitude.
"Just a little five-minute conversation helps me get through the day when I'm out here six hours by myself," Robinson said.
Wondering what exciting plans he has in store with his newfound free time?
“Until it warms up, and the pandemic is over, nothing!” Robinson laughed.