Messenger Appreciation Day
October 9th
In 1991, a mayoral proclamation decreed that October 9 of every year would be Messenger Appreciation Day in San Francisco. October 9 is “10-9″ in radio code and means “Say again” or “What?” 10-9 Day is celebrated informally all over the world. In 1997 Toronto joined San Francisco in celebrating Messenger Appreciation Day with a joint proclamation from the City of Toronto and Metro Toronto.
10-9 Day has been proclamied or recognized by Calgary, Chicago (proclamation), Edmonton, Portland, SanFrancisco, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver , Houston and Washington DC.
The United Nations has also proclaimed October 9 as “World Post Day”
Let’s congratulate all bike couriers on the benefits they bring to our cities:
- a solution to the problems of pollution, congestion and gridlock faced by large urban centres
- reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the downtown core
- take up less space on the road and do less damage to the roads than cars resulting in better conditions and streets for all road users
- increase the safety of pedestrians compared to cars. (studies show that pedestrians are “250 times as likely to be injured by a car, bus or taxi” than a bike.)
- aid charities
- draw tourists and international attention to cities through events and races
- provide a value added service that continuously improving firms seek out as a means to reduce costs and improve efficiency (crucial to the movement of important information)
- are ambassadors of goodwill for the city
- provide a link between many of urban homeless people and the rest of the downtown core
- year round cyclists who promote the bicycle as a viable form of transportation and economic development
