Thursday, I saw an unusual sight when I pulled up to the drive-thru mailboxes at the main post office to mail Genius's weekly letter. These mailboxes are at the corner of the parking lot in the back of the building, where all the USPS vehicles are parked when routes are done. The mailboxes are on a street with hardly any traffic. It is common for people (like ME) to drive on the wrong side of the road to deposit their mail into the mailbox. Otherwise, you have to have somebody riding on the passenger side of the vehicle to reach it.
There are two mailboxes. One used to be for local mail, and the other for out-of-town mail. The way it's been done for years now, all mail travels to Casino Town, 90 miles south, for processing, then the local stuff comes back. Seems kind of inefficient to me, but that's the government for you!
Anyhoo... as I pulled up, I saw paper flapping from both mailboxes:
No plastic sleeve, no lamination. Just a sheet of printer paper taped to the side of the mailbox. Good thing it wasn't raining! There was a paper on each mailbox, on each SIDE of the mailbox. You can see it hanging there on the other side, too. When I went back on Friday to mail the Sprint bill, and a rebate offer for materials Farmer H bought for Pony House... this paper, and the other one from this side of the other mailbox, were GONE! I guess somebody didn't want to enable the scofflaws driving on the wrong side of the road to mail their letters and bills. Or else somebody ripped them down to take with them.
So... if anything happens to The Pony's job, I suppose he could apply for a Rural Carrier Associate. Not this one, because the deadline is nearing. But it's a thought. I'm pretty sure his job is okay. He went off probation during his injury time. So he should be an actual City Carrier Assistant now, eligible for the uniform allowance, and able to actually purchase uniforms to look the part.
I showed The Pony this sign, and he said,
"Oh, they have them everywhere! There's one in the bathroom inside the building."
Heh, heh. So it seems to me that the pool of prospective employees the local post office is targeting for hire are: 1) people who drive vehicles to mail their letters and bills, and 2) current employees of the local post office who have a functioning bladder and bowels.
Oh, and some good news from The Pony concerning MAW, the middle-aged woman who started training and probation at the same time he did, who was let go during probation for not being fast enough.
"Oh, Mom. I heard from MAW this afternoon. She is working at the [Town 20 Miles West] Post Office, as a CCA, and says she's done most days by 3:30. That the route they gave her is shorter than our routes. She said that she was really out of shape, after being off for six weeks."
Yeah. I like to hear good news concerning the post office.
6 comments:
So, I guess when I REALLY retire, I might be able to get a job with the Post Office? Do you think they'd want an old, gray-haired woman working for them?
Sioux,
It's a merit system job, same as state jobs. You take a test. They're online now, but I used to go to a high school over in Bill-Paying Town once a month when I was taking assorted tests, on paper. They rank the scores high to low, and notify people who qualify about job openings to respond to.
I think the Post Office would hire you if you met their qualifications and scores. There are clerking jobs so you don't have to walk the streets...
Don't forget about state jobs! The prisons have a lot of them! I interviewed for several. And Probation and Parole caseworker! Once you've been a teacher, you pretty much have the skills required.
I won't be applying, it's way too far from home, I'd never get back in time to feed the cat, plus I am REALLY retired and spend my days doing nothing much, I don't see any need to change that.
River,
I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down! I love my days of doing pretty much nothing. Sioux will like it, too. She can sit on her porch and watch the mail being mis-delivered, and might want to check out Goodwill for a cane to shake at the mailperson.
My mother used to nag my dad to get a postal job after he retired from the Navy. He went to work for a salvage place and enjoyed organizing the various loads of great finds from derailed train cars. He didn't want to work for the post office, didn't stop her from trying to recruit him. Too bad she can't rise from the dead and help them out!
Kathy,
I used to work for an insurance salvage store in Springfield. I, too, enjoyed seeing what was in the new shipments, and getting first choice at them, before doing my job of writing prices on by hand, and stocking the shelves. I got a nice comforter that way, a return from JC Penney. I wasn't too thrilled with the COATS IN JULY sale, when we would put all coats in a semi trailer on the front parking lot.
I'm sure The Pony's office could use her help, and wouldn't hold her not-alive-ness against her!
Post a Comment