Some don't last long!

A  walk past CMoG

YMCA

    

A small walk today from YMCA to home.

Construction on expansion of  CMoG.
This is where Steuben Glass used to be.

Fall is coming!!

When you first get hired as a carrier, you have ninety days to prove your worthy to keep. Some new hires don't last that long, not because of them getting let go but because they couldn't handle the job. Whether it be stress, prior injuries or can't get the gist of the job, so they quit. I used to train the new carriers on my route. I pretty much showed them the ropes and what the bosses expected. My biggest tip was to deliver the mail by address first and worry about the names later. Most customers would write on the mail "not here" if it was wrong. It was frustrating at first, I even wanted to quit myself, everything hurt on me at the end of the day. My feet swelled due to my surgeries a year prior but, I hung in there until I was warned on the last week of my ninety days, saying I wasn't going fast enough. I had to improve over the next week to keep my job and after ninety days I was a career employee.
     I was supposed to train the new carrier on my route, it was the day after Labor Day.( which, after most holidays there is lots of mail) I was casing and sorting my mail, when she came in, I finished casing  and loaded up my carts, showed her a few things at the case, the paper work I had to do Etc....We went out to load the back of the truck up. Now, normally I would have some room to put all the mail in a good order but, there is a seat put in the back for the trainee. By the time I got the truck loaded it was full, due to the several tubs of businesses I had and it was close to the ceiling all around her seat.
     Now, most of you that know me, knows I like to make jokes and smart remarks, to break the ice with people I meet. I want to see their reactions and to get an idea of their nature.So.... I made the JOKING comment that the mail was pretty light for being after a holiday. She gives me a funny look and asks"What do you mean??" I said JOKING "There is usually a lot more mail than this." What she said next wasn't what I expected, she says "I can't do this!!" , I said "what do you mean you can't? It will be all right." She then says "Tell the boss I quit, I think this is too much for me I'm just going to go to my car and go!" I am standing behind my truck dumb founded and laughing, one of my co-workers came out to load their truck and asks how she is doing and I said "she quit!". I go back into the office to the supervisors desk, I walk up to the desk and they ask how she is doing. I told them she quit. They thought I was joking, until my supervisor said "he's not joking or he would be laughing by now!" The postmaster asked where she was and I pointed to the car leaving the gate.
     I ended up having to carry all that mail for the day.(11 hours total) The bosses  didn't let me train for a while, in fear of losing others. All she had to do was ride along that day and carry very little. She could have quit after she got back and got paid a full day. But, I do have a new record in the office, where most people would last a few weeks, she lasted 1hr 20min.
      I got lucky to get this job. I had been laid off from Dresser-Rand for a few months, when I got a certified letter to show up for an interview in Elkland,PA. The letter stated that it was an informal interview and that the top five people get interviewed, no matter what. But, the top three would be one of the new employees. The catch was if the employee that they chose didn't work out, the postmaster could choose from the other four left. Lucky me got a phone call a week later and was asked if I wanted the job still and if I was willing to take a drug test(which is why the first choice failed, she refused to take the test)I said "yes" and the rest is history.