Everyone needs a friend.
Phil Kilmer of Bella Vista recently retired from the Highlands post office after 35 years with the U.S. Postal Service. On his last day at work, he said he always tried to be a friendly face at the post office.
Kilmer began his career with the postal service in 1987 in Modesto, Calif., as a city carrier. He carried mail for 18 years, he said. The rest of the time he worked as a clerk. He moved from Escalon, Calif., to Bella Vista in 2003. He worked in nine offices -- five in Modesto, one in Escalon, one in Bentonville and two in Bella Vista.
Being a carrier is "brutal," he said.
"You're a glorified pack mule," he said, "All kinds of weather -- hottest, coldest days, days when you don't feel good. Days your kids want you to be at the school play."
He said as a city carrier, he carried 800 people's mail on his shoulder and walked his route, which could be perilous at times. He took some falls on snow and ice. The post office would ask people to keep their sidewalks clean, because carriers could step on something and fall or hurt themselves. He said he developed a habit of looking down when he walked and still does that to this day.
As a clerk, he said, he was the face of the post office. That was where he found his calling.
"Whether you're buying stamps or mailing a package or have a complaint -- we are the ones you see. I always made it a pride thing that, even if I was having a bad day, my customers never knew it," he said.
He said he always tried to be positive and leave his customers in a good mood while fixing their complaints.
"I take pride in when they walk away, they're smiling," he said.
He has even given his own cell number to customers so they could call him to ensure their issue was taken care of, for example, if their mail was not being delivered properly.
"There's an old saying, 'If you can't get out of it, get into it.' We all need to make a living. Why not make a difference while you're making a living?" he said.
Kilmer has seen lonely people come into the post office, and sometimes they just need someone to talk to and to understand. He said he sees 100 people a day at his job and "they're all going to be treated like they're my best friend."
"My job is to sell stamps and move packages, but it's kind of a calling to be a friend," he said.
Kilmer worked in radio for a stint, was in the Army in the 1980s and as a teen worked in a grocery store. He has been in a band, Rockin' Roads, which plays classic rock and oldies, for 10 years.
He said he has purchased a travel trailer and he and his wife, Donna, and his son, Scott, plan to travel and see America and do all the things he has not been able to do because of his schedule.
Scott, 30, is a Special Olympics athlete, he said.
"He's the light of our lives because he allows us to always be parents," he said.
The couple also have a daughter, Kayla, 27, who lives in Norfolk, Va., with her husband, Justin, a naval officer.
"I'm going to miss this, but I want to go while I'm still young enough," Kilmer said. "You wake up one day and you just know."