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.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by luv

That's what dad said. He got a 95, plus 10 points for being a veteran.

Just think, if I had been a veteran, I'd probably be working at the post office.

Or during your two year hitch in the military you would've shown unusual promise and been hand-picked for a secret mission to kill bin Laden at his north Pakistan hideout, after which your success would have made you a legend in the top-secret special forces community and instead of working at the post office you'd now be traveling the world assassinating evildoers in their lairs in Belarus and Tajikistan and Myanmar, dining on monkey heads in remote jungle lairs and having torrid affairs with smoky-eyed spies posing as taxi drivers.

[luv]

Looks like the exam is no longer required.

http://www.usps.com/employment/emplo...nav_employreqs

Employment Requirements
Want to Join the USPS team?
At USPS, our employees are our most valuable assets. For those who meet our employment requirements, we offer an outstanding compensation and benefits package. Below, you’ll find the eligibility requirements for USPS employment.

Age Requirement
18 years at the time of appointment or 16 years with a high school diploma.

Citizenship
Employees must be a United States citizen, a lawful permanent resident alien (i.e., possession of a “green card”), a citizen of American Samoa or any other territory owing permanent allegiance to the United States. Individuals solely granted asylum status, refugee status or conditional permanent resident status are not eligible for Postal Service employment.

Basic competency in English

Selective Service
Males born after 12/ 31/ 59 must be registered with the Selective Service System.

Employment History
Applicants must provide the names of their current employer and all previous employers for the 10-year period immediately preceding the date of application or to their 16th birthday, whichever is most recent.

Military Service
Military service is treated as prior employment. Veterans must indicate service and submit Copy 4 of the DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.

Criminal Conviction History
A local criminal check is required prior to employment. A more extensive criminal history check is completed at employment.

Drug Screen
A qualification for postal employment is to be drug free, and is determined through a urinalysis drug screen.

Medical Assessment
A medical assessment is conducted to determine medical suitability for a specific position. It provides the selecting official with information about an applicant's ability to perform the functions of a particular job.

Safe Driving Record
A safe driving record is required for employees who drive at work (i. e., city carriers, motor vehicle operators, etc.).

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Coogs

I have never had that happen. And I do not do this often either. But I still don't see the harm in sending a note/letter inside the box with said package.

I don't really get it either, honestly. My understanding is that media mail exists due to some ancient law that was aimed at getting people to read.

I can understand why they'd want to be pretty strict about it, though - people would undoubtedly take advantage of the system pretty badly if they didn't.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by penguinz

And UPS could have taken over USPS mail delivery and stamps would be cheaper today.

bullshit

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I don't really get it either, honestly. My understanding is that media mail exists due to some ancient law that was aimed at getting people to read.

I can understand why they'd want to be pretty strict about it, though - people would undoubtedly take advantage of the system pretty badly if they didn't.

I've never had anyone balk at a little paperwork included with the media. They will not however allow you to mail a book and an alternator and call it good.

[Abba-Dabba]

Originally Posted by Laz

bullshit

Yeah, that was a pretty dumb thing to say. UPS or FedEx can't send a letter cross country for under 50 cents. And even if they could, they wouldn't.

[Iowanian]

14. They know when you're getting porn and dildos in your "discrete packaging" and they laugh and tell the others at the shop.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

I've never had anyone balk at a little paperwork included with the media. They will not however allow you to mail a book and an alternator and call it good.

What if you wrote an Emily Dickinson poem on the alternator?

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

What if you wrote an Emily Dickinson poem on the alternator?

LOL...maybe if it was calligraphy

[luv]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

14. They know when you're getting porn and dildos in your "discrete packaging" and they laugh and tell the others at the shop.

I'm glad my dad doesn't deliver my mail.


Wait. He works at the same office my mail comes out of.

[Iowanian]

I ship items for work at least weekly that are non-regular shape. I can ship USPS for around $5, I had to use UPS around Christmas for the same items and it was $17 each.

In this case, USPS ftw and most of my clients receive their stuff next or 2nd day.

[Okie_Apparition]

Walk around in the rain, snow, and sleet and only make $22 an hour. Those poor, poor bastards.

[kstater]

I hate the Post Office here. Don't know where "going postal" came from. Sumbitches are open from 9-430. Oh, and they're closed for lunch from 1130-1230. So I have to take time off work if I ever need to go to the post office.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

Walk around in the rain, snow, and sleet and only make $22 an hour. Those poor, poor bastards.

Dark of night too. Don't forget dark of night.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Okie_Apparition

Walk around in the rain, snow, and sleet and only make $22 an hour. Those poor, poor bastards.

$45,760/year

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

Lower middle class

The lower middle class is the second most populous according to both Gilbert's as well as Thompson & Hickey's models, constituting roughly one third of the population, the same percentage as the working class. However, according to James M. Henslin, who also divides the middle class into two sub-groups, the lower middle class is the most populous, constituting 34% of the population.[4] In all three class models the lower middle class is said to consist of "semi-professionals" and lower level white collar employees. An adaptation by sociologists Brian K. William, Stacy C. Sawyer, and Carl M. Wahlstrom of Dennis Gilbert's class model gave the following description of the lower middle class:[4]

The lower middle class... these are people in technical and lower-level management positions who work for those in the upper middle class as lower managers, craftspeople, and the like. They enjoy a reasonably comfortable standard of living, although it is constantly threatened by taxes and inflation. Generally, they have a Bachelor's and sometimes Masters college degree.
—Brian K. William, Stacy C. Sawyer and Carl M. Wahlstrom, Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships, 2006 (Adapted from Dennis Gilbert 1997; and Joseph Kahl 1993)[4]

Taking into account the percentages provided in the six-class model by Gilbert, as well as the model of Thompson and Hickey, one can apply US Census Bureau statistics regarding income. According to these class models the lower middle class is located roughly between the 52nd and 84th percentile of society. In terms of personal income distribution in 2005, that would mean gross annual personal incomes from about $32,500 to $60,000.[20] As 42% of all households, and the majority of those in the top 40%, had two income earners, household income figures would be significantly higher, ranging from roughly $50,000 to $100,000 annually.[13] In terms of educational attainment, 27% of persons had a Bachelor's degree or higher. If the upper middle and upper class combined are to constitute 16% of the population, it becomes clear that some of those in the lower middle class boast college degrees or some college education.[25]

Sounds pretty average to me.