That has been my experience with this as well. It must be nice having an ad like this in the New Yorker but what is presented is pretty far for the truth. The

That has been my experience with this as well. It must be nice having an ad like this in the New Yorker but what is presented is pretty far for the truth. The postal service used to be a corner of local life in the countryside. Postmen had the same "tournée", the list of address to which they deliver mail, for a long time, sometimes decades and mail was traditionally delivered by bike. As a result, they knew their customers. The figure of the local postman as a social presence is deeply anchored in French culture notably in popular songs. This innovation is therefor less an innovation that a way of making people pay for something that used to be free. The reality of the new offer is that now the time postmen spend at each place along their distribution path is tighly monitored so that they don't stay too long with people who don't pay. It's not so much about introducing new care than about preventing free interactions. Obviously it might not be obvious to the mostly urban consultants who advised La Poste on this. It is the 21st century after all, you have to capitalize on the "silver economy".