Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
First they thought the mail hadn't been forwarded. Then they were told they had no mail.
Only after more than a week and many phone calls did the post office tell them the truth: Their mail carrier was afraid of catching AIDS from them.
Tim Snodgrass said he feared cutting himself on the couple's metal mail slot and touching envelopes and stamps they had licked.
``It's not a matter of ignorance. It's a matter of safety,'' he said Wednesday. ``I've cut my fingers on several occasions. If I run my cut finger through saliva, then I have a safety question.''
The Groundses, both 46, are the only residents so far of a new home for people with AIDS. The home is run by a Charleston charity.
Charleston Postmaster Richard Esslinger refused to say whether any disciplinary action will be taken against Snodgrass, who has delivered mail for 10 years.
The postmaster has asked medical experts to talk to Snodgrass and other employees about the disease. Until then, a supervisor will continue to deliver the couple's mail, Esslinger said.
``We want to make sure they understand there's nothing to worry about here,'' Esslinger said. ``After that discussion, that will be the end of it and he is to deliver the mail.''
Snodgrass said he didn't know whether he would change his mind.
Esslinger's ``not the one that has to make that delivery,'' he said.
Grounds, a former coal miner who is a hemophiliac, said he contracted the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion in the early 1980s and unknowingly passed it to his wife.
Snodgrass suggested the family place a smooth-edge plastic mailbox outside - a suggestion rejected by both the couple and the postmaster.
``That is so stupid. You don't catch AIDS that way,'' Pat Grounds said.
by CNB