Yes...yes they did.

[Aethian]

I work for the USPS and currently go to school at night to try and finish the diploma I started for. Due to a sucky person thats on hold but I digress.


This morning we had one route open which was no big deal it was being spread out over eight carriers and people wouldn't be getting their mail too late. Until one of our carriers with a heavy customer route got a family emergency call. Her Father had just passed away suddenly. So of course she left work, very understandable.

So instead of eight carriers taking pieces on one we had to split two between them and I was given a two hour piece that was delivering mail to a seniors trailer park. As soon as I get in there I start getting mobbed by people but they leave when they realize I can't move any faster then I am, I'm already tired, and I'm trying to get done as fast as I can. However one gentleman decided to be a SC and is now referred to as Crappy Old Man or COM.

COM: YOUR LATE!
Me: Yes sir and I appologize for that. *currently trying to sort out the mail to the names in the bank of lock boxes*
COM: Well?!
Me: Sir? *glances at him for a second*
COM: I want my mail NOW.
Me: I'm sorry sir I'm going as fast as I can, and I can't just hand you mail when I don't know who you are and that you need a lock to retrive your mail from the cluster box.
COM: So where the hell were you?
Me: I had to finish my route before I could get over here sir. Your regular carrier was called away from the office.
COM: Thats Bull, when am I going to get my mail.
Me: Sir since I don't even know which box is yours I can't predict when and if your going to get mail.
COM: Well why the hell don't you know which one is mine?
Me: Because I normally deliver to a different part of the city.
COM: Can't you go any faster?
Me: Not when you keep interuppting me sir. *While he was talking I did manage to get three of the 16 boxes done*
COM: I guess someone just has to die to get service around here.
Me: Since thats why your carrier isn't here, I would have to say thats correct.
COM: *blinks and backs away before rushing towards his trailer*
ME: *sighs and just moves to the next box, managing to get another one done before the COM's wife comes out*
COM's Wife: Did I hear my husband right, did our carrier pass on?
ME: No mam, a family member of your carrier.
COM's Wife: Oh, will she be out long?
Me: I don't know Mam, it was a sudden thing.
COM's Wife: Okay well take your time dear, your looking tired.
Me: *blinking and actaully stopping to look at her* Uh, Thank you.
COM's Wife: Have a good evening dear. *wanders inside*
Me: You too... *looking back down to sorting out the mail* How the heck does she put up with him?
Random Old Person: We've all wondered that.
Me: *jumping from slight shock and just watches the guy walk away*


Yes I know sometimes we're late but it isn't always something we can control. Like carrier illness, late mail from the office, family death, and once carrier death. Or when our lowest bid trucks die and we have to wait for a tow...

[SuperB]

People sure get pissy about their mail, don't they? I had one person who had so much time on her hands that she decided to find out exactly how long a piece of mail took to get from her sister to her. The two of them actually did this several times just so she could come in and bitch at us.

Last week a postal employee wrote a letter to the newspaper describing the rural carrier mail count and insinuated that the Post Office was holding back trucks during the mail count in an attempt to save money at the cost of the carriers. I'd be surprised if she were still employed but I think she was trying to get public support. Problem is the public only cares that they get their mail when they want it.

[JLRodgers]

My family never really does care about the mail until something obviously wrong happens.

One popular carrer that I won't mention, had this horrible habit of dropping packages that come to our house off at places a few miles away. One time they dropped it off in the wrong state (almost two states away). Fortunetely, the USPS (where the family returned it to) apparently looked it up or something and dropped it off at my PO Box a few days later -- not only was my PO box not listed on the package, the company that was shipping it didn't even have it! I asked the postal company how they got it to me, and they outright said "I have no idea". Another time they damaged not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR shipments -- they damanged it so badly that I kept on seeing "damaged - returned for replacement" in the tracking.

Sometimes another carrier takes 2-3 weeks to deliver a envelope from us to another location -- yet it takes 48 hours to get a letter from them to us.


But being that mean overa few hours? That's just wrong. In a way the death was "useful" as it put the man in his place ---- even though it's never a good thing when there's a death.

[Alfie]

That's why peole shouldn't make assumptions about things, in this case why you were late, because they always turn out to look like an arse.

I know that the second I am rude or inconsiderate towards someone, I will have it turned around on me and I will feel like a moron. If only other people believed the same thing.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Me: Since thats why your carrier isn't here, I would have to say thats correct.

Great comeback! I think I would have been too flustered to come up with anything more than "I'm sorry..."

Random Old Person: We've all wondered that.

[Javarod]

You'd prolly like me as a customer, the only time I've been pissed at the USPS was when they kept changing carriers/routes, roughly every two weeks the carrier would change, as would delivery time, from late AM to early evening, you could never guess. Long as its consistent, I don't care when its delivered, but sheesh, that nonsense went on for 3 or 4 months.

[marasbaras]

When I used to be in a shipping business, we used them nearly exclusively ... USPS was great. Lowest reliable cost (FedEx Ground SUCKS) ... easy to use.

Unlike the other carriers they pick up and deliver to EVERY address in the US.

[Andara Bledin]

Unlike the other carriers they pick up and deliver to EVERY address in the US.

Um, actually, no they don't. Some people still have to buy PO Boxes to get mail, but that is very few and far between any longer.

I've actually read tales of one eBay buyer who had to have packages sent UPS because USPS wouldn't deliver but UPS would. Talk about strange.

^-.-^

[Aethian]

I know we have a issue in our city right now because of a new house being between two routes (they bought farmland and built a house) and management doesn't want to make a descision on which carrier gets the new address. Last I heard they were alternating it every other week.

Had one lady one time who drove up to the truck and blarred her horn when I got out to see what was wrong she demanded her mail NOW because they were going out of town in a emergency. Well it was a emergency and I've known her for three years, even know all the kids by name and ones of thems birthday (we share it). So I got her mail for you, asked how long she was going to be long and then asked if her brother was also going to be gone. She then got all flustered and demanded to know how I knew her address and how I knew where her brother lived and how I knew he was her brother.

Her son practically spit his slushi out while trying to not laugh. "Mom! She does deliver the mail and I bet she knows where Grandpa lives too!" Why yes I do, specially since you all live next to eachother...on the same route...and I've seen you all together several times...

[Pagan]

See, this is what happens when people don't have anything else to occupy their time. Since I'm not home during most of the day and don't go get the mail until around 6pm, I have no idea when it gets put up.

And really, as long as you get it, what the hell difference does it make what time it comes?

A little OT - I remember once getting the mail and happened not to have any. One of the nosy biddies around here saw and said, "Oh, that's sad when there's no mail." I looked at her and quoted my step-grandmother, "Well, there's also no bills, duns, or threatening letters, either." Here's the look on her face:

[Difdi]

How the heck does she put up with him?
Random Old Person: We've all wondered that.

My grandmother does that to people all the time. Forget stealth bombers, the military needs to bottle whatever it is that certain old people have.

[Hello Kitty]

I've noticed people get REALLY SUCKY waiting in line at the post office, glaring at the employees and muttering. But really, is it their fault that customers haven't boxed their stuff, haven't put tape on it, can't decide if they want priority/insurance/whatever, complain about the rates, etc.?

That's why I LOVE click-n-ship and carrier pickup. LOVE IT. No more dragging tons of holiday gifts to the post office, waiting in line forever. The first year of carrier pickup, my letter carrier was really flustered the first few times, but now she's an old pro. I love the usps.gov website..find zip codes, calculate postage and buy all the cool stamps for $1 shipping.

[Aethian]

I've noticed people get REALLY SUCKY waiting in line at the post office, glaring at the employees and muttering. But really, is it their fault that customers haven't boxed their stuff, haven't put tape on it, can't decide if they want priority/insurance/whatever, complain about the rates, etc.?

That's why I LOVE click-n-ship and carrier pickup. LOVE IT. No more dragging tons of holiday gifts to the post office, waiting in line forever. The first year of carrier pickup, my letter carrier was really flustered the first few times, but now she's an old pro. I love the usps.gov website..find zip codes, calculate postage and buy all the cool stamps for $1 shipping.

Did you know that if you buy the postage and print the label from usps that you can opt for FREE delivery confirmation? I know that is how I got one of the e-bayers on my route.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

My Dad is a retired carrier for the USPS. There are some situations in which they are allowed to refuse to deliver. Those cases are rare but they are there. Most often, they involve danger to the carrier or absurd delivery requirements.

As far as the mail being late, um, maybe the carrier got violently ill (happened to my Dad once, luckily I was old enough to drive & go get him), maybe the vehicle died, etc. While carriers, at least the ones that I've heard about, strive for consistency; stuff happens. Postal carriers don't want to be delivering your mail at 7 pm, either. They want to be home, eating supper or with their families.

And Aethian, I recommend that you read Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. It's a fantasy novel, about a post office.

[Emrld]

I used to have a fantastic delivery person . . .
In fact he used to have the route for the house where I grew up for awhile.

The person I have now - let alone those that sub have yet to impress me.
I live on a corner with a busy street. Due to the age of the neighborhood our mail boxes are mounted on our house at the front door.
Mine just happens to face the street.
Due to a situation I was dealing with I got a secure mail box. Yes, some of my mail was being taken. (mail get dropped in . . .must have a key to get it out)
He doesn't pay attention to the flag. I have to leave out going mail hanging out for him to know to take it. Instead of the flip shelf that he is able to get to with a label on it that says outgoing mail. (When mailing any form of payment I now take to the post office itself)
It has gotten better . . .but several times I have come home to have my incoming mail, including credit card statements, hanging out of the box.
At least 3 times a month I get mail for another house with a different name on a different street with the same house number. (same route)
I do turn around and put it into the outgoing mail so that it can be take to the right house. But, I do have to wonder how many cards of letters I never got because neighbors just threw it away because it wasn't theirs. (Like the wedding invite someone insists they sent me and I never got)

Majority of United States Postal Workers are wonderful people. They work hard at their job and do the best they possibly can. I just happen to have the one in a thousand that isn't great.