"Lady Dragoness" offer the following:
The United States Post Office seems to hire only those who disregard the need to deliver mail undamaged. Today is not the first time that I received a piece of mail which has been damaged beyond usability; nor,unfortunately do I expect it be the last. Fortunately, I didn't pay anything for this piece or I'd really be screaming my head off, but what could have been a useful gift from one of the companies I do surveys for has been turned into so much garbage by the United States Postal Service - or probably more likely, the carrier who delivers my mail.
Mail carriers, use your brain! When a piece of mail is obviously too large for the box to which it is supposed to be delivered, leave a note! Do not fold, spindle and mutilate the piece until it fits in the box.This piece was packaged in a padded envelope - which is not stiff enough to provide the needed protection for the sort of item the package contained - but at least a thoughtful person would have recognized that the padded envelope meant the item warranted better handling than so much garbage.
At apartment complexes such as the one where I live, mail carriers seem to have no problem leaving other mail (sometimes valuable packages) at my manager's office, where I might not be able to take possession of my items for a couple of days or longer when this happens on Friday or Saturday.
I would prefer such pieces were brought to my door, which happens only rarely, yet I am almost always home when the mail is delivered. Either option could have kept this piece of mail from being irreparably damaged... but no, damaging potentially useful items seems to be the postal carrier's way these days. I find it pitifully sad that so many postal carriers have no pride in doing a job well... and they don't do so well in delivering my mail either. Aside from magazines, catalogs and other mail being damaged in transit or delivery, I often find mail in my box that has no business being there at all... mail belonging to other tenants in this apartment complex. Each time I see something in my box that doesn't belong, I wonder how much of my mail has been delivered to someone else!
Lady Dragoness
The "Lady" makes a valid point about the general lack of pride many civil servants demonstrate in the performance of their jobs. Time was that you knew your mail carrier by name and actually developed a relationship with him or her. Now, it pays to "know thy neighbors" because chances are, you will get at least one piece of their mail each week.
In my case, I generally get all of my neighbor's mail in one delivery... which means that I have to figure out which of my neighbors received mine. I hope that they are as diligent regarding this post-delivery sorting. Sometimes I get mail with the correct street number, but the wrong street name and God forbid that you live on a street that has both a "North" and "South" street address.
Recently, I stayed home from work waiting for a repairman. Since the weather was nice, I sat on my front porch. I saw the mail truck approach from down the street. As I watched the young man walk from house to house, I noted that he seemed to be talking to himself and at times even laughing. When he finally approached my porch, the mystery was solved.... Blue-Tooth!
As he arrived on my porch and handed me my mail, I rhetorically asked, "how are you?", to which he nodded and never missed a beat of his phone conversation. I sorted through the mail, saving mine and making another stack for "re-delivery". Question... is he illiterate, ignorant or just doesn't care? My bet is on the latter.
Cell phones are a pet peeve of mine and I am confident that they shall play a major role in the downfall of modern civilization as we know it. Endless "yammering" about absolutely nothing for the sake of "companionship"... Oh, don't get me started!
The lack of pride in one's job is directly related to one's "expendability"... meaning, how likely one is to be fired if they don't produce quality work. Here's where the civil servant jobs fail the public. Unless you are convicted of a major felony, a civil servant job is yours for life.... quality be damned!
Unfortunately, this same philosophy has spread to our health care and educational systems. If anyone is "qualified" for the job, give it to them... and let the attorneys and forensic pathologists sort out the rest.
Forthright
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13 comments:
(((Groan!))) If that's your biggest gripe, then life ain't so bad.
Does every post here HAVE to go back to DRMC and Leland? I mean, for real, the original poster said NOTHING about healthcare and education, so why does it seem like EVERY post must somehow be linked back to those two topics? I enjoy reading this blog, but there are MORE things happening in Greenville besides DRMC and LELAND. Someone has an ax to grind.
To Reader With Interest:
I do, too often, see that DRMC and Leland head up this blog... but maybe that axe does need to be ground. After all, one should have pride in their work no matter WHAT their job is. I see Forthright's point.
To Anonymous:
FYI: Pride in one's work was my subject here, the daily destruction and mis-handling of my mail was merely the example of how postal workers have no pride in their job. That lack of pride does seem to be spreading
You need to be more clearly indicating who your response is to... if to me, then you are mistaken if you think my biggest gripe is on this blog. It's not here, and won't be, simply because I attempt to stay out of political discussions which tend to disintigrate into arguments. And... why anonymous? Are you one of those uncaring postal workers?... or do you simply have no pride in your job, whatever it may be?
..........on the other hand, I recently received a letter with only my name and the name of my street for identification. No apartment number, no city, no zip code. Good job, postal worker!
TO: reader of interest
From: FLY ON THE WALL
This blog can be about whatever the writer/contributor so chooses.
It's America. If you don't want to read it - you are granted some spare time for other activites whether your axe needs grinding or not. PS - I included my Delta Scoop ID because I didn't want to be anonymous.
You have no idea what a carrier goes through on a daily basis. I bet whenever it's raining outside you call up and complain that your mail got wet. The problem is that carriers are micro-managed beyond belief. As far as your precious catalogs and/or letters. Look at at the area where the postage goes. If it doesn't say First Class than it's garbage. PRSRT STD, Non Profit, etc... = JUNK MAIL. I've delivered hundreds of letters to people with nothing more than a name and street. No number, wrong zip, etc... Why don't you ask you letter carrier how many stamps he's bought over the years because the sender forgot to put the postage on it. I stopped counting when I broke $20 dollars.
get a bigger mail box
I just wish I had a hot chick as a postage carrier!
I am a carrier, the problem is with mailboxes that are too small like in apartments. But more than that is the time allowed to deliver the route. Management does not consider the extra time needed to do a quality job. A carrier is allowed enough time to put mail in box and run to the next. Damaged mail is because carrier is trying to get done in the time alloted by management, no extra time to mess with little mailboxes, have to cram it in stuff it in, or take it back to office undelivered.
To the anonymous poster who thinks it's easy to get a bigger mail box... maybe you missed that I live in an apartment... boxes are provided in such cases as these in only one size - too small.
To the anonymous carrier: I agree. More time should be allotted to you to do a quality job, and the apartments could provide larger mail boxes so fewer items - if any - would be damaged. in delivery.
anonymous carrier: stop complaining, your lucky you even have a job. Your probably one of the many letter carriers who finishes his route in 3 1/2 hrs and sits around for the other three sitting around with the rest of the slugs bitching about managment!! GET A LIFE!!!!
I am a carrier too. We are followed by management constantly. This means driving on our routes. Anonymous carrier wasn't "bitching", perhaps the person who stated this is. The public has no idea what goes on . I agree that larger boxes and parcel lockers are needed. I fold mail. If it is marked "do not fold/bend" I don't. If you have lots of mail, especially lots of catalogues or periodicals I doubt major damage is done by folding. Carriers are allowed breaks and a lunch, too. We are also forbidden by Federal law to work over a maximum weekly number of hours. If you receive someone else's mail, it's probably because a person is covering the route so the regular carrier has a day off. We are sometimes highly pressured by management about our time. Even 5 or 10 minutes We are only human and I still make mistakes. If you receive mail that isn't yours, kindly leave it for the carrier without defacing it. I like my job but people can be mean, sometimes. There are many nice ones, too. Are YOU perfect?
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