Mario

Mario (Maz to his mates) is the postman for all of Clevedon and Lissenden Mansions.  Before parking his trolley up at Lissenden Gardens he’s already covered a huge amount of ground, including half of Highgate Road, Denyer House, Haddo House and Glenhust Avenue.  Despite the 22,000 steps he takes on his route every working day, he still manages to deliver an excellent postal service, and with a great big smile, as does his colleague Bayram, who works Parliament Hill Mansions.

Born in 1961, Mario spent some of his childhood locally, living in Fortess Road, and attending St Patrick’s primary school in Holmes Road.  He’s since moved around North London, and now commutes in to us from leafy Edmonton.

Before becoming a postman he worked for many years in the printing industry, printing napkins for Dekkos in Tottenham and then at Liddos putting print designs on toy cars.  His life with the postal service started as a stand-in for posties on holiday or sick leave, before he came to the regular route he has now.

Mario loves the fresh air, and never gets achy feet.  A good day is when the weather is cold and dry, and when all the tradesman bells on the estate work without problem. 

When he’s not working Mario might be course fishing, or preparing something fancy from a cookbook, quite possibly accompanied by a disco soundtrack.  His one and only gig attendance was Cameo at Wembley, and he has been known to throw a back flip or two, back in the day.  Not something he would attempt now!  In earlier years he frequented the clubs of North London (Bumbles and the Royalty to name a couple), loved to roller-skate, and has fond memories of the dry ski slope at Ally Pally.

The Covid crisis continues to be worrying for him and his colleagues.  They have all been provided with PPE, but the gloves make their hands sweat and the water fountains have been turned off at work.  As of 2nd May, no letter post is being delivered on a Saturday, so there will be double-weight deliveries on Mondays.  Our cleaning efforts on the estate are much appreciated, particularly doorbells and letterboxes.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have Mario in our community.  He understands the cryptic instructions left on parcels, knows which neighbours to leave things with, and who might need help with deliveries.  If a number is left off the address, Mario generally works it out without sending anything back to the depot.  He never discards elastic bands, and regularly donates them to locals who find uses for them.  

Mario likes dogs as long as they like him, looks forward to family holidays in Cyprus, knows and likes his postman Ray, gets his missis to write the letters, and he’s rather partial to marmite on toast. 

Please keep cleaning your doors and staircases, to keep Mario, Bayram, and the whole estate healthy.  And say hello when you see him.  By the time he gets to you he’s probably walked about 8 miles already.