13 Things Your Mail Carrier Won’t Tell You

[luv]

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/...l-you-2445111/

1. Maybe your dog won’t bite you. But in 2009, 2,863 of us were bitten, an average of nine bites per delivery day. That’s why I wince when your Doberman comes flying out the door.

2. Remember this on Valentine’s Day: It takes our machines longer to read addresses on red envelopes (especially if they’re written in colored ink).

3. Why stand in line? At usps.com, you can buy stamps, place a hold on your mail, change your address, and apply for passports. We even offer free package pickup and free flat-rate envelopes and boxes, all delivered right to your doorstep.

4. Media Mail is a bargain, but most of you don’t know to ask for it. Sending ten pounds of books from New York City to San Francisco through Media Mail costs $5.89, compared with $16.77 for Parcel Post. Besides books, use it to send magazines, manuscripts, DVDs, and CDs; just don’t include anything else in the package.

5. We don’t get a penny of your tax dollars. Really. The sale of postage, products, and services at our 36,000 retail locations, and on our website, covers all of the post office's operating expenses.

6. UPS and FedEx charge you $10 or more for messing up an address. Us? Not a cent.

7. Paychecks, personal cards, letters—anything that looks like good news—I put those on top. Utility and credit card bills? They go under everything else.

8. Sorry if I seem like I’m in a hurry, but I’m under the gun: Our supervisors tell us when to leave, how many pieces of mail to deliver, and when we should aim to be back. Then some of us scan bar codes in mailboxes along our route so they can monitor our progress.

9. Yes, we do have to buy our own stamps, but a lot of us carry them for customers who need them. If we don’t charge you, that’s because we like you.

10. Use a ballpoint pen. Ink from those felt tips runs in the rain.

11. Please dress properly when you come to the door. A towel wrapped around you doesn’t cut it. And we definitely don’t want to see you in your underwear!

12. We serve 150 million addresses six days a week, so we’re often in the right place at the right time. We pull people out of burning cars, catch burglars in the act, and call 911 to report traffic accidents, dead bodies, and more.

13. Most of us don’t mind if you pull up to our trucks while we’re delivering and ask for your mail a little early. But please get out of your car and come get it. Don’t just put your hand out your window and wait for me to bring it to you.

"We don’t get a penny of your tax dollars. Really. The sale of postage, products, and services at our 36,000 retail locations, and on our website, covers all of the post office's operating expenses."

This is true. The post office is one of the (if not the only) government agencies that is 100% self-sufficient. They do not get tax dollars or money from the government. Whenever postage goes up, it's typically because the cost of technology used, gas, cost of benefits, or wages have gone up.

Anyway, I just thought I would share this. I know my dad has told me several of these, but I didn't know if everyone was aware.

[-King-]

I mean wtf? You're going to tell me that if you give some mail to a 12 year old, its not going to get delivered?
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[notorious]

An NFL player would consider playing football easy.


Ask one of them to type of a report about the current Widget market, and they would probably consider that hard.


It's all relative. Being a mail carrier would be easy IMO. I am excellent with numbers, I enjoy conversing with people, the physical part is a joke, and working alone is a bonus.

Hard IMO = Kissing a bosses ass or trying to teach 11 year old demons.

[luv]

Originally Posted by -King-

I mean wtf? You're going to tell me that if you give some mail to a 12 year old, its not going to get delivered?
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You're so cool.

[Mizzou Dude]

I was a mail carrier for a while in Ohio. They don't get paid all that well but the benefits were awesome.

Added bonus was all the free Cougar Cooze you can handle. Especially at the assisted living facilities.
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[notorious]

Originally Posted by phisherman

probably not. roofing is one tough a** job. it's all relative.

i think carrying mail would be much more physically difficult than my job, but i think my job is probably much more mentally difficult than carrying mail.

Damn, you beat me to it.

Good post.

[luv]

Originally Posted by notorious

An NFL player would consider playing football easy.


Ask one of them to type of a report about the current Widget market, and they would probably consider that hard.


It's all relative. Being a mail carrier would be easy IMO. I am excellent with numbers, I enjoy conversing with people, the physical part is a joke, and working alone is a bonus.

Hard IMO = Kissing a bosses ass or trying to teach 11 year old demons.

Did you know you can get carpal tunnel from delivering mail? And carriers don't have asses to kiss? You think all people everywhere are pleasant? Can you imagine having to deliver to the people that post on here? Man.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by luv

You're so cool.

I'm being serious.
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[luv]

Originally Posted by -King-

I'm being serious.
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You're so cool.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by luv

Just curious. What do you consider to be difficult? Surely not anything that requires intelligence, as that should be too easy for you.

Well, there are jobs that are physically demanding, requiring you to carry heavy things up ladders and things like that. There are jobs that are mentally demanding, such as ER nurses and design engineers and sales.

Carrying mail is neither of these.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by luv

Did you know you can get carpal tunnel from delivering mail? And carriers don't have asses to kiss? You think all people everywhere are pleasant? Can you imagine having to deliver to the people that post on here? Man.

Carpet Cleaners hate me............

[luv]

Originally Posted by Brock

Well, there are jobs that are physically demanding, requiring you to carry heavy things up ladders and things like that. There are jobs that are mentally demanding, such as ER nurses and design engineers and sales.

Carrying mail is neither of these.

So carrying heavy objects is only difficult if you carry it up a ladder? Not if you have to carry anything for a prolonged period of time?

[Brock]

Originally Posted by luv

Did you know you can get carpal tunnel from delivering mail? And carriers don't have asses to kiss? You think all people everywhere are pleasant? Can you imagine having to deliver to the people that post on here? Man.

You can get carpal tunnel from nearly anything. You have to deal with people in nearly any job anywhere. Good grief.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by luv

You're so cool.

So....a regular person wouldn't be able to deliver mail? Why not? What problems would they have?
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[Brock]

Originally Posted by luv

So carrying heavy objects is only difficult if you carry it up a ladder? Not if you have to carry anything for a prolonged period of time?

Like what? A 35 lb bag of letters?

[luv]

Originally Posted by -King-

So....a regular person wouldn't be able to deliver mail? Why not? What problems would they have?
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I never said a regular person couldn't deliver mail.

Not everyone is made to do production work. Not everyone is made to do customer service work. Not everyone is made to do both.