A day after a holiday makes for a crazy day at the Post Office; especially when Christmas is lurking in the near future and all the companies want to sell their seeds, gadgets, electronics, hunting gear, clothing, and fragrances. This makes for a lot of catalogs and magazines. One would think that in this epidemic of Internet browsing, they could do without the paper version, but that isn't the way it works. What actually happens is: if you browse and order via the Internet, your name gets put on a mailing list and you get even more paper mail. At the Post Office, we call it job security.
Meanwhile, a customer now and then puts a note in the mailbox requesting we not deliver any 'junk mail'. Think about that, if even three customers asks us to throw their junk mail for them, out of almost five hundred mailboxes....well, you get the picture. We would be in the building sorting mail and not actually delivering. We are required to deliver everything given to that address, unless there is a good forwarding of course. It isn't possible to treat even three people special and get the job done in time. How difficult is it to throw junk in the trash after you receive it, and how are we to know what the customer considers, "junk"?
Some questions we get after running our tails off all day, trying to be timely:
"Where's my mail?"
Where's my check?"
"Why didn't you stop and pick up my outgoing mail?"
"What time do you think you'll be going by?"
First let me say that all these questions are the equivalent of the question asked by tourists at Yellowstone: "Do you have a time schedule for when the geyser will next erupt?" There is no good answer for these types of questions. You can't make the obvious joke and say, " I hid it." or, "I threw it away". So, we take these questions serious;( although they are funny to a mail carrier) and we answer them the best we can.
Let me try to explain them one by one. Your mail that you did not receive today, and by that, I mean the mail you thought I left back at the Post Office or ate, is in the huge labyrinth called the mail system. It could be in a large machine being sorted by computers. Or, it could be in a truck headed to a larger city for sorting in your hometown's Post Office. Or, it could still be at the origin of whence it shall be sent. If you didn't get your check, this could be the case.
The answer for not picking up your mail... It is true. Not every day will a customer get mail. It is also true that a mail carrier does not have to stop at a mailbox, if the flag is not raised. I am amazed how many people don't use their flag. I find this out because I did have mail to deliver and upon opening the mailbox, I will find a stack of outgoing mail. What were they planning to do about the outgoing mail if I had not needed to stop that day? I don't know. I guess they think we just know. Let me confirm, we cannot see inside your mailbox when driving by, so if the flag is down we aren't able to know.
As for what time? Every day is different. We have no way of predicting what time we can be at your mailbox. Every day there is mail, you have a number of situations. The mail truck is late sometimes, depending on the weather, and the amount of clerks able to work the morning shift makes a difference. The level of mail on any given day, fluctuates a lot. Over Christmas, the stacks of packages will slow the delivery time even more.
All these things play a part in the mail day and in making sure we have job security. Yesterday, I was very secure. I counted 54 package markers and those were packages not sorted in with the mail. I'll bet I scanned and delivered at least one hundred total. For our route, that's pretty secure.
This Christmas, I challenge you to making your mail carriers' life just a bit sweeter. A thank-you note is awesome. Our customers are very good to us. Every Christmas we are given cookies, chocolates, fruit, jam, nuts, etc... anything little works. Now, go bless your stupid mailman; the one who eats your checks and delivers junk. He's just doing his job.
Meanwhile, a customer now and then puts a note in the mailbox requesting we not deliver any 'junk mail'. Think about that, if even three customers asks us to throw their junk mail for them, out of almost five hundred mailboxes....well, you get the picture. We would be in the building sorting mail and not actually delivering. We are required to deliver everything given to that address, unless there is a good forwarding of course. It isn't possible to treat even three people special and get the job done in time. How difficult is it to throw junk in the trash after you receive it, and how are we to know what the customer considers, "junk"?
Some questions we get after running our tails off all day, trying to be timely:
"Where's my mail?"
Where's my check?"
"Why didn't you stop and pick up my outgoing mail?"
"What time do you think you'll be going by?"
First let me say that all these questions are the equivalent of the question asked by tourists at Yellowstone: "Do you have a time schedule for when the geyser will next erupt?" There is no good answer for these types of questions. You can't make the obvious joke and say, " I hid it." or, "I threw it away". So, we take these questions serious;( although they are funny to a mail carrier) and we answer them the best we can.
Let me try to explain them one by one. Your mail that you did not receive today, and by that, I mean the mail you thought I left back at the Post Office or ate, is in the huge labyrinth called the mail system. It could be in a large machine being sorted by computers. Or, it could be in a truck headed to a larger city for sorting in your hometown's Post Office. Or, it could still be at the origin of whence it shall be sent. If you didn't get your check, this could be the case.
The answer for not picking up your mail... It is true. Not every day will a customer get mail. It is also true that a mail carrier does not have to stop at a mailbox, if the flag is not raised. I am amazed how many people don't use their flag. I find this out because I did have mail to deliver and upon opening the mailbox, I will find a stack of outgoing mail. What were they planning to do about the outgoing mail if I had not needed to stop that day? I don't know. I guess they think we just know. Let me confirm, we cannot see inside your mailbox when driving by, so if the flag is down we aren't able to know.
As for what time? Every day is different. We have no way of predicting what time we can be at your mailbox. Every day there is mail, you have a number of situations. The mail truck is late sometimes, depending on the weather, and the amount of clerks able to work the morning shift makes a difference. The level of mail on any given day, fluctuates a lot. Over Christmas, the stacks of packages will slow the delivery time even more.
All these things play a part in the mail day and in making sure we have job security. Yesterday, I was very secure. I counted 54 package markers and those were packages not sorted in with the mail. I'll bet I scanned and delivered at least one hundred total. For our route, that's pretty secure.
This Christmas, I challenge you to making your mail carriers' life just a bit sweeter. A thank-you note is awesome. Our customers are very good to us. Every Christmas we are given cookies, chocolates, fruit, jam, nuts, etc... anything little works. Now, go bless your stupid mailman; the one who eats your checks and delivers junk. He's just doing his job.
That was a cool bit of comic relief! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add the part how the mail carrier CAN make a mistake. But we'll just pretend that doesn't happen.
DeleteGood story! Thanks for writing about your day and the ideas you gave will help me when I pick something up for our mail man.
ReplyDeleteGiving the mailman a gift was a new idea for me. Before delivering the mail and receiving thank-yous, I'd never thought of it. It's nice we have people like you in this world who do. Thanks.
DeleteYou deliver mail?! My already high opinion of you just increased. This is good. We don't even have mail delivered to our homes, though. Good old post office up here in the boondocks. But I'm sure the post mistress gets similar questions.... :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I do. Lest you have a false opinion tho, I must tell you that after digging through all the fifty packages the other day, and not finding the one that I knew was there, and then having to drive away, knowing I would have to return after it was found, I said an ugly, unladylike word. I am so glad no one heard me. I told God sorry. :) I find that very interesting you don't have mail delivered to your homes. I don't think I knew that.
DeleteYou go girl! The other day I sent a package to Dru's from my mailbox. It came back saying that it needed a customs order and ten more dollars in order to be delivered. I was ticked! I had paper things in there and four little plastic snowmen on a card in there. Speaking of ridiculous. No I am not rushing off to the post office to spend ten more dollars to send a letter and these flat tree ornaments to Lisl. So! What I will do is send the letter in a regular envelope. That works and she gets it right at her door. So that's my side of things.:) I'm sure you would have fixed it and sent it like the good postmistress you are. The package is going to morph into a big one sent by flat rate box or by weight to a friend who is returning to Thailand and will hand deliver it to for me. So much for international mails.
ReplyDeleteOh and they didn't mess up the stamps I had on there so I can still use them. They got that right, at least. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I hate to pop your balloon, but sending that in a regular envelope will only produce more problems. They run everything through machines these days. You know those cards with brads? They rip the thing apart usually. Anything with a bulge will likely be ripped. Good luck. Oh, and you have a very nice mail person if they let you use those stamps. Anything that has been stuck on something before has potential of coming off and if you put a piece of tape over it, it disqualifies it altogether. Honestly, how can you expect to send something out of the country without paying for the customs order? I've never heard of anyone being able to. Yup, better send it in a suitcase with a friend. You are hilarious!
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