The Match — First Half

The whistle blew.

ELTA had possession.

And frankly, I wasn’t optimistic about the Greek side.

This was ELTA, after all.

We Greeks have opinions about ELTA.

Many opinions.

But then something unexpected happened.

ELTA came out attacking.

On July 21, our envelope left Kalamata.

Later that day, it reached Eleftherios Venizelos Airport.

Kalamata to Athens: 268 km / 166 miles.

One day.

Not bad, ELTA.

On July 24, it left Athens.

That same day, it arrived at JFK in New York.

Athens to New York: roughly 7,930 km / 4,930 miles.

Across Greece.

Across Europe.

Across the Atlantic.

Done.

Then, on July 25 at 9:52 AM, came the handoff.

ELTA had carried the ball all the way from Kalamata to New York.

Now its American partner took possession:

USPS.

Same envelope.

Same tracking number.

A clean handoff.

All USPS had to do was finish the play.

Destination?

Pennsylvania.

Approximately 220 km / 137 miles away.

And then…

nothing.

For the moment, our little piece of snail mail stopped moving.

Not even at snail speed.

Let’s check the first-half statistics.

ELTA: almost 8,000 km in four days.

USPS: 220 km remaining and apparently considering its options.

So let me understand this correctly.

ELTA took an envelope from Kalamata to Athens, put it on an airplane, sent it across the Atlantic, and handed it safely to its American delivery partner in New York.

USPS received it…

looked toward Pennsylvania…

and apparently said:

“Looks good there.”

I never thought I would write the next sentence.

But the referee has blown the halftime whistle.

ELTA 1 — USPS 0

And we Greeks complain about ELTA.

Perhaps we owe them an apology.

A small one.

Very small.

Let’s not get carried away.

The players are heading into the locker room.

Which means it’s time for the halftime show.

No Taylor Swift.

No Doritos commercials.

No multimillion-dollar pyrotechnics.

We have something much more entertaining.

Greeks with opinions. (to be continued…)