My Postal Career

I hired into the Postal Service November of 1985 as a letter carrier. Less than a year later (!) I became a regular carrier and a few months later got my own route. I signed on to become a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers during my initial orientation, a decision I have never regretted. After I did enough time to get the first two step increases I bid to a higher level job (T-6 string). After doing that gig for about 2 years I went back to doing the one-route thing, and I can't imagine that I'll ever go back. In case you've been wondering, I've never been a supervisor and at this point I don't intend to become one :-)

To remain sane, I reflect on the good things my career in the Postal Service has taught me. Some of these are:

Respect for myself
Respect for others
Appreciation of nature's beauty
Appreciation of the importance of "security" and "significance", both for myself and for others

If your list of stuff that working for the Postal Service has taught you is different than mine, e-mail me and let me know!

Respect for myself

Before my career in the Postal Service, I had never worked a job where there were more than say, a dozen people at the workplace at one time. Suddenly I was in a situation where it was unclear to me where my place was. Over time I realized that the things that I drew my security and my significance from weren't really working for me anymore. Like many of my gender, I've always drawn a lot of significance from how well I do my job. If you've worked for the Postal Service any length of time, you know that compared to many jobs, there's not a whole lot of recognition for a job well done. Suddenly a great source of significance was gone for me. I've learned that my significance in life comes not just from my job, but from being a husband, father, and simply a man created in God's image.

A certain Wemmick named Punchinello learned this lesson in an interesting way. Read his story here.

Respect for others

When you work side by side with a large number of people on a regular basis, you run into a large variety of different races, creeds, and backgrounds of people. For example, before I hired into the Post Office I never worked with a deaf person before. Like a lot of people, I was a little scared of people who are physically challenged. But working with a certain deaf person (Debbie) for over a year now has made me realize that despite our outward appearances we're all just regular people "under the skin". I can think of perhaps a dozen people that I've worked with that have helped me to overcome my prejudices; not by preaching at me, but just by working beside me day after day and being a living demonstration of simply honest, hardworking people.

Appreciation for nature's beauty

Is any more explanation really necessary? Before the Post Office (BPO) I'd always been an "indoor person". Obviously not too many letter carriers have that luxury. Like I tell lots of my patrons, I'd be a !@#$ poor mailman if I couldn't work out in the weather. As a letter carrier you have two choices: you can complain about the weather (everyone complains about the weather, but nobody actually does anything about it! :-) or you can learn to appreciate the beauty of a sudden rainstorm or a blanket of snow.

Appreciation of the importance of "security" and "significance"

Many psychiatric types feel that a major need of modern persons is to feel secure and significant. I believe that working for the Postal Service can present a challenge to individuals on both these fronts. I've already spoken of the challenge I faced concerning my significance. I've also gone through challenges of my security by being in the Postal Service. Silly, isn't it: being a postal worker is one of the most secure jobs in the world, but among postal workers we often feel like the bottom is going to drop out of the Postal Service or that we can get fired at any minute. I've learned the hard way not to draw too much security or significance from my job, but to put my job in its proper place: not too high, not too low. Whenever a boss tells me I can be fired for violating one of the rules, I think of a story somebody recently e-mailed me. It's called "Worth the Risk" but I like to think of it as "What's Your Priority?"