Trying to be polite!

    

Guess the building

It's not rocket science to guess this one

Panorama of part of Market

As a letter carrier I try to be as polite as possible. Saying the normal like excuse me, sorry, have a nice day etc...  But, there are times you have to be a little forward to certain people because, of their rudeness. Most of the time it has to do with people blocking the doors to your delivery.
     For instance: I was entering a somewhat crowded restaraunt. I said " Excuse me" as I worked my way in. When I approached the last person I said the same "excuse me". No movement or acknowledgement. I said it again and nothing. Finally, loud enough for everyone to hear I said it again and the man finally moved. The problem was he shifted just slightly and it wasn't enough for me and my full satchel to get through. I went ahead and got by but, as I did  my loaded satchel bumped the man. He turns and says "excuse me!" I returned and said "maybe next time you will move when I say it three times! I have a job to do!" And on the way back from the counter when I said it the man moved right away.
     Another time I was delivering to Wegmans and I have to go behind the service desk to get the mail. A woman was blocking the door to the counter. I said "excuse me" several times. I finally  reached for the door handle, as I did the woman stepped back and I brushed her behind with my hand. She turns and in a obnoxious voice says" HOW DARE YOU!"  I looked at her and said " I wouldn't have dared if you would have moved out of the way when I had asked you!" She was still sputtering as I left. The next day the cashiers behind the counter said she wanted my name to report me and they told her that I tried to get her attention and she ignored me. After she had left they all started laughing. It's nice to know I have my customers for backup!

             I get this kind of thing every day. I have tourists bumping into me on the street as I am as close to the building as I can get. I get passed by cars in my truck because, they think I am parked, when in fact I was stopping at a cross walk for a pedestrian. Even when I am crossing in the cross walks,I get cars that don't stop when I am in the middle of the street. If I see their window down as they pass I yell" THANKS FOR STOPPING". It gets their attention every time!!

     

I'm a real mailman.

 

     I had been on the job for only a few weeks and I finally got to carry on my own. I only covered the carriers' day off so, to remember things from one week to the next was hard. At the cases the carriers use colored plugs to tell whether a customer was on vacation, had a forward or to let you now they have a P.O. box. I had pulled the route down on my own but, forgot to take out a letter for a P.O. box customer. When I approached this customers house I didn't realize that this house didn't get delivered, I got on to the porch and didn't see a mailbox. So, I knocked on the door to see if they were home so I could ask them if they had a mailbox, so I knew where to deliver next time. A woman opens the door and she gives me a funny look. Here I am in regular clothes a postal cap and satchel(since we don't get a uniform until after ninety days). I asked her if she had a mailbox that wasn't visible and I had a letter for her. She looked a little worried, took the letter and said"Your not a real mailman are you??" I just looked at her and smiled, a part of me wanted to tell her in my Pinocchio voice real loud. " I'M A REAL MAILMAN!!!"
      A few weeks had passed and I was carrying the same route but, I haven't got to the same ladies neighborhood yet and I was way across town. A car pulls up and this same customer, hands me a letter and says" you put this in my mailbox today and I told you I have a P.O. box! Please do not make this mistake again!" I took the letter,said "sorry" and went on my way. I get back to the office to take my lunch and explained the two situations to the postmaster. She said that the woman isn't all there and she will sometimes take other peoples letters and return them saying they were in her box. I said " she doesn't have a mail box." and she looks at me and smiles to kind of say without words "I know."








    
    
 I was able to get some shots of the Jazz and Harvest Festival. It was just gearing up so, not too many people yet.

This explains the fist few pictures.

    

A new business in town!



A few ladies from ES&L

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.

Trying to get some shut eye!

    






         My children were very young  when I started in the Post Office. When I got home from work it wasn't plop your feet up and rest after 10+ hours of work, it was daddy time with the kids. At night if they weren't feeling good Ann and I took turns staying up with them and sometimes into the next morning. Ann and I still had to go to work the next morning, even though we were dead tired. So, I took advantage of my 30 minute lunch and I would take a nap, I would shut my door to the truck, turn my seat sideways and lean on the steering wheel. My watch alarm was set and I was good to go, at least I thought so. I just had dozed off when I heard this banging on my door which woke my nice nap up, it was a couple of ladies thinking I had passed out and wanted to see if I was ok. I assured them I was ok and I was taking a nap to catch up on sleep from my children being up all night. The one lady said, " I do that during my lunch time too sometimes."  I hope she got to finish her nap! All I got was 10 minutes!
         On another route I was on I would take my break at the same spot on the route. I did the same thing, I took a nap, I hear this tapping on my door, I open it and the guy asks if I could see if his "check" was in, I checked and it and it hadn't come in. This went on for a couple of days. They would wait till I fell asleep and do the same thing. I finally told them that they were disturbing me during my lunch break and that I shouldn't have to look for their mail. Well, they decided to call the office to turn me in for sleeping in the truck while on the job. I get back that day and one of the bosses asked me why I was sleeping in the truck. All I had to say was that it was my lunch break and I slept during my break. So, the next day rolls around and I take my nap. But, this time I had made a sign for my window that said " OUT TO LUNCH PLEASE DON'T DISTURB UNTIL MY BREAK IS OVER!"
They call the office again and the boss told them I don't have to do any work while on my lunch break.

I took a walk through the Farmer's market and Connors
http://connorsmercantile.com/
 

 

 

 

      

No Public Bathrooms?? Really??

Pick up every 15 minutes

Running late??

Local restaraunt

You can find him here every day!!

Stage canopy

Showing off!

Last shot before end of lunch

 

HOW RUDE!!!!!!!!!

 

         I had been carrying my route for a couple hours now and being the winter I had to go to the bathroom.(REALLY BAD) I hurried back to the truck and decided to go to the closest business. I decided to be nice and get their mail and deliver it, since I was going there.( No sense in making two trips) I walked in hurriedly and placed their mail on the counter. I politely asked the woman if I could use the bathroom. She looked at me and said "we don't have a public bathroom for you to use." I told her it was an emergency and I had to go! She said "Sorry!" Luckily the urge had decreased a little, being in a warm area. I reached down, grabbed their mail and said "well I guess you can wait for your mail also!" She tried to appologize as I was walking out. I proceeded down the road to find a bathroom! Well, If you haven't guessed already, when I got back to the office my boss said the business called and said I walked out with their mail, not explaining that they refused to let me use their bathroom! When I told him why I took the mail back(which I delivered when it was supposed to be delivered) , he didn't have a problem with it. He said he would have done the same!

The un-expected F BOMB

 

 

 

 



I used the trucks windshield as a filter in these two pictures

                                                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too rainy out during lunch to walk around.So,I stayed in my truck while it down poured

    You never expect to here such languge from an older woman.
 



  I was taking a moment to get a drink of water one summer before I started my next block. I was picking up my water jug and I had hit the large tray holding my mail. water went everywhere!. One of the trays got it good. No matter what. I had to deliver it. I saw several of my customers and I explained what had happened and they were very appologetic. As I was finshing an older woman came out to get her mail and her very IMPORTANT Sports Illustrated. I explained what happened and applogized several times. Nope not enough appologies would have helped!

       The woman proceeded saying and I qoute""""" ( I will use only the F and other letters to quote) " What the F am I supposed to do with this F-ing GD magazine now! Who do you F-ing think you are?? I wait for this F-ing thing for a week. SOB!!! You get your F-ing self down to the store and get me another one!!" So, I proceeded to the store and found out that a mailed magazine comes out before the shelf date. ( I haven't forgot that since) Now..... I have to go back and explain to her about the problem. As I'm telling her she's fuming!! "What am I supposed to F-ing do now. Your boss will F-ing here about this. SOB!!!"" I again appologized and went on my way. Here comes the end of the day. My supervisor stops me and I explained what happened. She had called and used the F BOMB on him. He said she was so upset he could barely understand her and he wanted to know what I said to upset her. I said after she got done screaming at me and swearing I told her to "roll the magazine up real tight and shove it!!!". You should have seen my bosses eyes bug out. I then said to my boss. "Thats what I wanted to say" but, kept my cool and appologized and thats all I could do

 
 
 

      We as carriers strive to do our jobs to the best of our ability. We are no means "PERFECT". We make mistakes just like everyone else. If we are making the same mistake daily. Then, yes we deserve a scolding. If something happens once in a lifetime like my story chalk it up as an accident and accept our appologies. But, we are also not mind readers. Let us now if something is wrong.

 

 

Things found in collection boxes besides mail.

 I was able to get a few shots off before getting back to work.

 Getting ready for a fall display??

 One of two Gaffer District employees making sure the streets are clean!

 One of the local window washers making sure we view the displays better!!

 

What you could see if you walk down the dike.

 

 

I can never understand why people want to throw things into a collection box. I have found some good stuff. From empty, half empty to unopened bottles and cans of beer. The smell alone in the summer was awfull. I have had to put out a cigar smoldering in the mail to a dead frog. Just a few weeks ago people were telling me one of my boxes was full. I went to check it and someone had put a urine soiled pillow and a few clothes in the box. Another bad smell in the summer heat! But, I will have to say the best one of all was when I did evening collection. I got to one of my boxes and as I opened it a large cat came flying out. Somehow, I have a feeling some kids were watching and waiting for me to come!!  Slowly the collection boxes were taken away. When I first started we collected close to thirty boxes and several businesses. Now there are only ten or so left in the whole city and I collect six of them.

 

 

  Now days when people ask me where the nearest mail box is so they can mail a letter. I just hold out my hand and smile!!