When you think about it, putting a letter in the mailbox is an act of faith.

You hope your missive will be picked up at the pre-appointed time noted on the post box. You expect it will travel safely through whatever sorting processes it needs to get through, in order to wind up in the hands of yet another dedicated postal worker who, you believe, will deliver it to the designated address.

Whether he feels like it or not.

Heroic mail carriers?

Some 2,500 years ago, during the war between the Greeks and Persians, the notion of that kind of faith inspired Greek historian Herotodus to write the now-famous postal motto in praise of the Persian mounted couriers whom he observed and admired: "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Herotodus might have written something entirely different had he been observing a 23 year old employee of a private German postal firm, instead of mounted Persian couriers.

The employee, a 23 year old Scotsman working in Frankfurt, Germany, has admitted to failing to deliver the mail for over a year. Instead, he stashed or dumped at least 20,000 letters, police said.

Upon discovery, he told authorities he was overworked and opted to collect the envelopes in his flat or throw them away rather than bring them to their addressees.

Suspicious neighbor

He was caught when a neighbor in Frankfurt saw him dumping stamped envelopes, catalogues, circulars and packages into a garbage container.

The woman grew suspicious because she had seen the man do the same thing with dozens of letters before and noticed overflowing mailbags in the basement of their apartment building.

She alerted the police and the firm that employed the man.

A search turned up post in his wardrobe, under his mattress and in other nooks and crannies of his flat. He then led police to the storage cellar where they found more sacks and boxes full of parcels and envelopes addressed to recipients including law offices, hospitals, tax authorities and private citizens.

Exhausted by night school

Police estimated that at least 20,000 letters entrusted to the man had not reached their intended recipients, including a few letters addressed to the Scot himself.

"The 23-year-old had not opened any of the letters but simply stored them so he would not have to deliver them," the statement said.

"The young man stated that he was attending night school to earn his secondary school diploma and found it too overwhelming to carry the mail on top of that."