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.

[chiefsnorth]

Originally Posted by luv

$45,760/year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class



Sounds pretty average to me.

Look at the skills required to do that job, and what that person would be making in a comparably skilled job elsewhere. It's a goldmine.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by luv

Dad makes out a little better than that average, but usually only when he's working a lot of overtime.

The b-i-l has been on mandatory overtime for awhile, and he's raking.

[luv]

If everyone thinks the job is so easy, and so cushioned, then why aren't more of you delivering mail?

[chiefsnorth]

Originally Posted by luv

If everyone thinks the job is so easy, and so cushioned, then why aren't more of you delivering mail?

Cant speak for others, but I went to college.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by luv

If everyone thinks the job is so easy, and so cushioned, then why aren't more of you delivering mail?

I preferred to learn a skill.

[Iowanian]

Come at me BRO!

[luv]

Originally Posted by chiefsnorth

Cant speak for others, but I went to college.

So, postal workers are uneducated? The work is beneath you?

[luv]

Originally Posted by Brock

I preferred to learn a skill.

You're definitely not a people person.

[phisherman]

Originally Posted by luv

If everyone thinks the job is so easy, and so cushioned, then why aren't more of you delivering mail?

yep. great question.

[Bwana]

Hmmm?

[Iowanian]

My mail delivery person was a stripper 10yrs ago, runs marathons now and yes, she's hot as hell. Dumb as a box of shit, but built for speed.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Hmmm?

. Dad abhors Cliff. Something about drinking while in uniform.

[chiefsnorth]

Originally Posted by luv

So, postal workers are uneducated? The work is beneath you?

I am guessing most of them are.

I don't work there because I have skills I can employ elsewhere for more money. But I appreciate the post office and what it does.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Bowser

My brother-in-law is a carrier. He's got enough seniority to have a driving route, and makes a good deal more than that 48K a year number. He's never met a stranger, and thus literally knows every one of his customers. You should see the bounty he brings home from the customers during the holidays.

It's a suck job not because of dealing with shitty weather and conditions from time to time, but from within. It's a production job, so it's all about numbers. If you do your route really fast one day, but not so the next day for whatever reason, you have to answer as to why you were ****ing off on day 2, because on paper you were. Every job deals with stuff like that, so I don't necessarily feel bad for him, but crap like that just makes you shake your head.

Who do you have to take crap from? The post office manager?

90+% of people are at work when the mailman comes.

[chiefsnorth]

Also, for people who are achievers the fact that a job is repetitive and easy is not a selling point.