From Genealogy Bulletin No. 60 (December 2003), in “Digging up the Undertaker”:
Something as simple as obtaining a copy of a death certificate in the mail can be an early reward that will sustain a genealogist for months. It can be very gratifying.
Like many genealogists who are regularly expecting a death certificate to come in the mail, I used to stand at the mail box at the curb outside our house in anticipation. The postman once remarked that I was the only person on his route that got excited to get a death certificate in the mail. Apparently, I used to shout, “Alright! There’s that death certificate I’ve been waiting for!” The first time this happened, I got a very strange look from him – but after a few more death certificates came in the mail, he got used to it and would say, “Sorry, I guess no one died this week,” when there was no mail that day.