Buster's Special Delivery

Summary
Buster volunteers to deliver the school mail and finds the job harder than he expected. When misplaced letters lead to canceled field trips and lunches of stewed prunes, Buster is left holding the bag.

Plot
In the introduction Arthur uses ice-skating as an example for something that looks easy when someone is good at it.

Title Card: Space Ship

Mr. Haney announces to the class that volunteer third-graders will take turns delivering the mail for the faculty. Since this means missing ten minutes of homeroom each morning, Buster volunteers.

Mr. Haney holds job interviews. Buster claims that the most important day of his life was getting a mail coupon. He gets the job.

Miss Tingley, who handled the mail until then, explains Buster’s job to him using the acronym SAD: stacking, alphabetizing and delivering. Buster is more interested in the mailman’s hat that comes with the job.

On the way home Buster chats with Mr. Higgins, the mailman. He tells Buster that it is a responsible job and that nothing should stop a mailman from delivering the mail. Buster has a fantasy in which he delivers mail in a blizzard.

The next day Buster has barely started sorting the mail when Mr. Haney tells him to pick up the pace. Buster puts letters in random pigeonholes.

The next day several class activities do not go as planned, because the teachers’ written requests were not delivered, e.g. a field trip has to be cancelled because no bus was ordered.

In the afternoon Buster talks to Mr. Higgins again, who tells him of his own training on the job and teaches him a new acronym, GLAD: gather, look at each letter, alphabetize and deliver.

The next day Buster arrives early at school and sorts the mail perfectly, although Mr. Ratburn criticizes Buster for reading the mail. In the cafeteria Buster complains about the stress and embarrasses Miss Tingley when he talks to her about a personal letter from Francis (Mr. Haney).

The next morning Buster impresses Mr. Haney by noticing that Mr. Haney accidentally threw a cafeteria menu in the trash. However, because of the stress Buster feels too tired for watching Bionic Bunny or eating.

After a week Mr. Haney congratulates Buster on his good work and appoints the next mail carrier, Arthur. Buster is hurt, but is mollified when he learns that he gets to train his successor. On his first day Arthur cares more about the hat then the work, just like Buster did a week before.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Arthur Read
 * Francis Haney
 * Ms. Tingley
 * Mr. Higgins

Minor

 * D.W. Read (intro only)
 * Coach Grimslid
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Francine Frensky
 * George Lundgren

Cameo

 * Binky Barnes
 * Helen
 * Alex
 * The Brain
 * Nancy
 * Norman Hedgehog
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Steve
 * Maria Pappas
 * Jack Weasel
 * Fern Walters

Trivia

 * D.W. makes a minor appearance in the intro, however, she is absent from the entire episode.
 * Morals:
 * Dont use your job to not do stuff you dont like for your own benefits.
 * Just because a job looks easy doesn't mean it is easy.
 * Every job is important.

Cultural References

 * Mr. Higgins recites the United States Postal Servide creed (he leaves out "of night").

Production Notes

 * This is the last episode D.W. is voiced by Jason Szwimmer.

Home Video
DVD:
 * D.W., Bossy Boots (DVD)
 * Arthur: Season 10