JUNCTION, St Elizabeth:THE MOBILE phone and Internet explosions have combined to send postal services the world over into a tailspin. However, in recent times, the staff at Junction Post Office in St Elizabeth has been kept very busy.

"Here is different. It comes like the capital of the town because it serves a lot of districts," postal clerk Josephine Simpson shared recently, explaining that a number of circumstances had combined to increase their workload.

With the Watson Hill Post Office being out of service after a section was destroyed during a storm, the postal service took the decision to serve people from Lititz and other communities out of the New Forest Post Office. However, according to Simpson, many residents of Lititz find the distance too gruelling and instead opt to collect their mail at Junction. Add to that their clients from Top Hill, Brinkley, and Todd Town. The Bull Savannah Post Office is intended to serve residents of Todd Town, but according to the postal clerk, with the high transportation cost to get there and back these residents prefer to do business at Junction.

With postmaster Ricketts on leave, Simpson is in charge and she and office attendant Avalyn Mulgrave have been kept busy.

"It is rough sometime with light bill and PATH (payments). Light bill is from the 15th go down, and PATH is like every two months, and we have Paymaster, too, and we same one have to monitor those," she explains.

"Last week Friday alone, before 12 o'clock, if we nuh serve over 500 people, we nuh serve one because it was PATH, light bill, and Paymaster, but me used to it. I live here, me born and grow here, and I used to do census, so I know almost everybody, so it's kinda easy for me."

Overall, business is very good at Junction, according to Simpson, and the likelihood of closure or the reduction in services at this time is very unlikely.

"We get parcel and stamps. We sell a lot of stamps and those things. Here is very good," declares the veteran, who has been working in the postal service for the past 18 years. She started at Bull Savannah and has worked as far away as Treasure Beach, also in the parish.

It is evident that Simpson enjoys her job, smiling as she does throughout the interview.

"There is no bad thing about it because it's nice to serve the public," she commented. "Some of them, you have to help them with the stamp, you have to help them, you have to address letter for them, and they always ask which side you put the stamp on. Even some young people, they don't know which side to put the stamp on because it's been a while some of them don't post letter, but it's okay. Everybody nice."