"Burn! Throw away! Mother, Zeus would be furious! Besides, what if I burned Cupid's arrows? Athena and I might never be united!"
Nevertheless, he thought about his Mother's words. And thought of a brilliant solution to the first problem.
"Sire, we need to implement a two step process. First, we deliver all the outstanding mail. Second, we streamline the existing system to insure we don't again arrive at our present situation again."
"Fine, I like that. Do it!" Zeus seemed very agreeable.
"Well, yes, Sire. By the way, I'll need the services of
Mercury."
"Of Mercury! He's my private messenger! How dare you! How long will you need his services? Ridiculous! When can I have him back? And how do you propose to use him?"
"We'll loan him to the Post Office Department. He'll distribute the backlog quickly and easily, and then we have only the second problem to solve."
Zeus frowned, then finally agreed.
Mercury's transfer to the Postal Department was delayed. Not because he objected; rather, because of the normal bureaucratic delays. Eventually the paperwork was completed and the transfer made.
The results were astounding. Within a day half of the backlog was distributed. It seemed that the initial problem was well on its way to being solved.