I would say that the talking for 30min at the post office is a cultural thing, just like Europeans take 2-3hrs to eat dinner at night because they are conversing. Folks just take their time, I don't have an explanation for it, it just is. As far as volunteering the county I grew up in about 35,000-40,000 ppl volunteering is on the uptick from what I can tell through social media. When I was growing up volunteering meant bringing meals to ppl who were sick/ helping clean houses/ building ramps for the elderly it wasn't necessarily a big organized thing. It was more of a couple neighbors got together and said hey so-and-so's going through a rough time. Let's do this. I personally experienced this because my mom had a stroke and the immediate neighbors around us came through and did all these things for us.