USPS Hero or Oxymoron?

Boston.com: Stephen Nester, a Lexington mailman who rescued a 96-year-old man whose house was on fire, was honored as a "Hero Among Us" at Thursday night's game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

A Celtics PA announcer read a description of Nester's heroism yesterday during the presentation of the award at center court.

"January 14th started out as another typical day for letter carrier Stephen Nester. Suddenly, as he was delivering mail on his normal route in Lexington, he noticed smoke coming out of a nearby home. Without hesitation, Stephen immediately stopped his truck and dashed into the burning building to see if anyone needed help. 

"With flames set to engulf the building at any second, he saw that an elderly gentleman was trapped inside. Stephen helped the 96-year old man to safety and prevented what could have been a terrible tragedy!"

At the conclusion of the short description, the fans at the TD Garden rose to their feet to acknowledge Nester's bravery.

The Lexington residents who know Nester from his mail route said they weren't surprised that he went into the house and potentially saved a life.

‘‘He ought to be given a Nobel Prize,’’ said Richard Jenson, a neighbor of the man Nester's assisted, the day of the fire. ‘‘He’s everyone’s friend. He’s a hero.’’

Not to nitpick but I have a few problems with this story.

First off, the nobel prize is not awarded to people who save lives, unless for example, they find a cure for cancer. I mean I obviously know what Richard Jenson is trying to say here, but this guy really butchered his 15 seconds of fame. Why not, "He ought to be given a raise," or "He ought to be given a ceremonial key to the city?"

I mean saying he deserves the nobel prize is like saying Tom Brady deserves a Purple Heart for having an MVP season with a foot that needed surgery. The 2 just don't correlate.

Secondly, I call bullsh*t. I have never met a mail carrier like Mr. Nestor. My experiences with the USPS have been missing mail, backed-up-into mailboxes and unhappy faces/horrible customer service. After all the expression "going postal" didn't just come out of thin air.

So while Mr. Nestor is certainly a hero, I doubt he is an actual USPS employee.

I smell a publicity stunt.