Postal Workers Share the Things We Can Do That Would Really Help Them Out

With all the stuff that’s currently going on with the US postal service, it’s a wonder that anybody is a mail carrier at all. But, thankfully, we have a bunch of brave folks who continue to soldier on regardless of the circumstances so we can get our much needed mail.

That’s why one person on Reddit asked this question:

Postal Workers of Reddit: What do you need right now? How can we brighten your day when we see you on our routes? from AskReddit

Personally, I LOVE that this question exists because we really could do a lot more for our folks in light blue… and it doesn’t take a lot of work.

Let’s find out more…

1. It’s not hard

Husband delivers mail and he loves just about anything people do.

From pictures drawn from kids along the route to thank you letters to cold water and ding dongs.

He is appreciative of it all!!

2. That’s cool! Literally!

You could buy them a battery powered mini fan that clips to something in their truck. Some wear water vests to keep cool.

Yes, postal employees can accept gifts up to $20

Here’s the policy: https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2012/pb22349/html/cover_025.htm

3. Cooling down seems to be a trend…

Former carrier here.

Had one house that always left me a bottle of ice cold water.

Highlight of that route!

4. Basic. Human. Kindness.

My father has been a postal worker for decades.

What makes him smile the most is when people just reach out and be nice and friendly. He would always tell us stories about the people who would put a smile on his face.

Notes/cards go a long way. But also just say hi and ask them how their day is going.

5. Make their jobs easier.

Former mail carrier here, #1 get a bigger mail box lol.

Water and treats are nice, but a box they don’t have to get out at to deliver things is the gift that keeps on giving.

6. Games!

Cold drinks and maybe a bag of chips or something. I’m a current carrier and seeing that stuff can completely brighten our day. Also just saying hi, or leaving a note saying thank you.

I have a customer who plays tic tac toe with me. That’s pretty fun.

Honesty anything helps and please be friendly and understanding if something is late or missing. As of right now a lot of this stuff is out of our control. It’s coming straight down from up top and there isn’t a lot we can do about it ourselves.

7. The bigger the box…

I also agree that a big mailbox is an amazing option especially if you order a lot of small packages, but don’t feel like you have to replace your mailbox.

If something happens to your box or you’re looking for a new one, consider getting a larger box.

8. Pants pls!

Carrier here!

All I ask is for the love of God PLEASE WEAR PANTS WHEN ANSWERING THE DOOR!… I’ve had straight up naked dudes sign for there package without batting a eye…oh the stories of awkwardness I could tell you guys.

Oh also smiles and friendliness is appreciated 😃 ..but with clothes on…

9. Help them help you

Put numbers on your damn mailbox/house. Send cards/legit letters to people. Tear down your POS lockbox that nothing fits into and get an actual mailbox.

Say hello but don’t hold me up for a half-hour bc I don’t have time to lose. Buy stamps. If you see the mailman struggling with your giant ass refrigerator box, help, don’t just watch from your porch.

And for the LOVE OF GOD, STOP ASKING IF ITS HOT ENOUGH FOR ME OUT HERE.

10. Control those pups!

Okay… I know the whole joke about “ahhh dogs hate mailmans dogs go brrrrrr”

But please do keep your dogs inside… it scares the mail 🙁

11. Wow! That’s so nice!

I’m a big Jimmie Johnson fan the Nascar driver, today I opened a box and there was a signed Jimmie Johnson hat with a note saying it was for me.

That has brightened my whole week, but water or Gatorade, snacks always appreciated. However I would recommend writing a note saying it’s for the mailman as a lot of times items are left in a box and we are unsure.

One Christmas I totally thought a gift was for me and it wasn’t. 😬

12. It’s the little things!

I’m a carrier and I can tell you the cutest thing I see with the men in my office is the pure joy on their face when they reveal all the drinks/snacks they were given on their routes.

They are so excited to take their treasures home to show the family. They even take pictures and post them on Facebook.

As for me I love being squirted with a hose. A garden hose that is!

13. Yum!

My dad and his dad were rural carriers.

My dad’s favorite treat he received was peanut brittle made by different ladies on his route. If we were lucky he would bring it home to us! When I was little I would ride with him and get to meet tons of folks on his route. And yes, he loved the really big mail boxes.

Back then there was no UPS – he delivered everything, including live chicks. Oh, stories to tell.

14. Legit advice!

Yoooooooo Let me chime in, Postal worker here!

STOP YELLING AT ME WHEN I CAN NOT FIND YOUR PACKAGE!!!! We get mail from UPS AND Fedex and sometimes it’s already comes all fu*ked up or they lost it…but we are last to touch it, then customers hate us for thinking we damaged the package or lost it.

MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR ADDRESS CORRECTLY ALONG WITH APT # (if you live in an apartment) Many many times we get packages and they don’t have an apartment number, and you know how big apartment complexes can get, so how do you expect us to find where it goes ?? Just so you guys know when it does not have an apartment number it’s get returned to sender.

Also that sh*t where it takes photos of the letters your suppose to get and it sends a pic to you, we don’t even know where the picture is taken it could be from the originating city/country, countless times people come pick up there mail and they say “where’s this letter ?!” Then proceed to show me the picture like they think I’m keeping their dam mail, it usually comes a day or so later.

STOP TRYING TO SCAM US Looking at you people who sell sh*t on eBay, we know you paid for postage for 5 lbs when In reality it weighs 30 lbs, you cheap asses !

BE PATIENT!!! many times customers come in bitching that “ooooh my package should have been delivered already” so I track that sh*t and it still has not even left the city it’s coming from just cause it says ARRIVAL AT UNIT does not means it’s out for delivery 😒 “Mam your package has not even left Philadelphia!”

There’s probably more but this is all I could think about right now. Any questions lemme know.

15. They’re thinking about you…

When the quarantine was just getting started, a few of my customers left me a note in their mailbox.

Just a friendly thanks and reminder that I am appreciated being out there during these hard times, making sure people get their mail and packages.

I’d say this small kindness would be much appreciated again with all of this political nonsense interfering with my career. ✌🏼

So, it seems like they want a little bit of kindness, a lot of cold water, and maybe some bigger mailboxes.

Got all that? Think you can help out?

Let us know what you do for our postal workers in the comments OR… what you will do going forward!

Thx fam!

The post Postal Workers Share the Things We Can Do That Would Really Help Them Out appeared first on UberFacts.

Postal Workers Discuss the Craziness That Is Their Jobs Right Now

The United States Postal Service would be a very interesting and a very hectic place to work right now.

The USPS has been under scrutiny this year by certain politicians and things are only going to get more insane as we near the election in November.

Whatever side of the fence you’re on, you have to admit that folks who work at the USPS right now are under the gun and the environment on the job must be pretty intense.

Here’s what folks on AskReddit had to say about what’s going on there.

1. Overwhelmed.

“My mom runs a small office, and I came to visit her and my dad after work last week. I found her crying in their kitchen just slouched into my dad’s arms.

She was sobbing about how she couldn’t keep this up. The mail slowing down at the main hubs just builds up and when it eventually gets to her, she’s dealing with 3 times as much as mail and packages than her busiest time, Christmas (~600 packages when I spoke to her last), and now has to deal with irate customers demanding to know where their stuff is. All by herself.

She’s got bruises up and down her arms from hustling to get the mail processed and out. Add to that the stress of worrying every day if she’s she’s going to lose her job and her benefits.”

2. Slammed.

“I supervise a large station in a major city where the Postmaster runs over 20 post offices.

Last summer this office was a ghost town at 1700, even on Mondays. Tonight my last carrier came in at 1845. Saturday one year ago, parcel volume was a little under 3900. Tonight it was 8751.

Our base hours are 412.53, today we earned 435.36 but probably hit 455. DOIS is only allowing 60 seconds per parcel, but since all these apartment offices are closed due to C19, everything gets run to the door.

Complaints and inquiries are insane, too – mail delays and packages dropped at doors means a lot of angry customers.

All in all, right now I wish I’d stayed a mail handler. Stations are madhouses. But the carriers are toughing it out, generally keep it on an even keel, and everyone has each other’s backs for the most part.

This station has kept its reputation as a big family, so it hasn’t become ugly. Just difficult.”

3. Saving space?

“I am a USPS carrier.

The latest thing that affects us personally is they are reducing our cases (these are tall shelves that have every address on our route in order for the mail that we need to manually sort) from 2 cases to one to “save space”.

The best way that I can explain this is: you have a normal 2 drawer file cabinet, not jam packed full but each drawer is 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Now combine both drawers into 1. I will remind you that you need to fill it up every morning in order, sometimes stuffing things in to fit, then remove it in order to do the rest of your job.

The best part is the second case was also acting like a barrier from covid-19 from coworkers. Now they are going to remove it and replace it with plexiglass.”

4. Frustrated.

“They’ve removed 5 of our letter sorting machines (4 DBCS, 1 DIOSS) as well as a flat sorter (AFSM) and I think an FSS machine but that is not a part of the building I am routinely in.

Before, we would stay at work until all of our mail was finished, if it was 8 hours or 10 or 12, didn’t matter, the mail has to go out. Now, we are being forced to leave behind mail if we can’t finish in time, even if it is first class mail (something that would get us written up easily before).

The mail we push back is ran first the next day, so luckily only a day delay, but still unacceptable IMO. We are taking election mail incredibly seriously though, and any mail marked as political or election related is processed ASAP.

I am extremely serious about protecting the integrity of the mail. It is disappointing and frustrating that our new postmaster general is not.”

5. Broken down.

“I don’t think people realize how old and decrepit most of the delivery vehicles are.

A typical LLV probably has 300-400k miles and any scratches are literally painted with white house paint. Customers love to ask “Does that thing have air conditioning?” and when you tell them that you don’t even have air bags much less AC, they’re actually shocked. But damn are they perfect for the job.

We had a truck’s horn break, so when you turned the wheel it would honk. We could hear the guy driving it coming down the hill to the office… and then he arrived at the traffic circle… omg we were SOBBING with laughter.

But then it took over a month to get fixed properly and there were exposed wires on the wheel which you touched together to use the horn, like you were hot wiring the damn thing.”

6. Madness.

“We currently have over 11 beamers (big metal cages full of packages) full of first class packages including medicine and anything people have tried to send expecting 2 day shipping.

Overtime isn’t approved and we’re getting more and more backed up with first class and priority mail packages.

It’s getting worse every day.

No one is wearing masks to deliver or in the office, we’ve have 3 cases of covid, no sanitization, and people have been asked to work while they wait on their covid tests even if they have symptoms.

A few people are out for fear of covid and using their vacation or sick leave so no one else can get a day off, and we’re calling in workers from other offices to assist, putting their offices into a frenzy making them short handed.

No one is happy. Everyone is complaining, tempers are rising, some are threatening to walk out and quit, but they show up the next day anyway bc its the best paying job with no college degree in this area.

The management sucks, the supervisors are awful. They’re complaining about all of the carriers because we’re falling behind even though package volume has gone up 80% for our office since Covid hit hard in March.

Customers are complaining about us “being late” even though our daily cut off time is 7 pm, but if we’re not at their house at the time they normally expect during non pandemic and new PMG times, we’re “late” to them.

I’m expecting no Christmas tips this year, that’s for sure.”

7. Tense.

“I’m a carrier in a suburb of a large city, and honestly there’s tension.

Our sorting machines at the distribution plant were hauled off recently and quietly, a lot of the older carriers are jumping ship and retiring as quickly as they can, our trucks just aren’t getting maintained anymore, and half the damn town is so convinced that COVID is some kind of conspiracy that nobody will respect social distancing or wear a damn mask.

I’ve been at this for five years. I was lucky enough to land my own route two years ago when some carrier associates wait ten. I have benefits, I have retirement savings building up, I ACTUALLY GET VACATION DAYS.

And now some f*cker decided he wants to cheat to win again, and I’m going to lose my entire career. Every single case of carpal tunnel, every blister on my feet, every fourteen hour long day during the Christmas season, all the mountains of paperwork I did because I wanted to make my route more efficient for the benefit of my customers, and it all means nothing.”

8. Rumors.

“In the district that I work in, they’re removing one of our machines that sorts the letter mail. The PMG has also divided the Postal Service into 3 separate units, Delivery and retail, sorting units, and An analytical branch to help with logistics to make the service more profitable.

Overtime is being cut and parcels are just being delayed. New “temporary” surveys added by the PMG to track the mail volumes. And there are rumors floating around talking about every Area is going to be dismissed.”

9. A veteran.

“20 year carrier here.

They (upper management) are delaying mail like crazy in an effort curb overtime. Local management is as p*ssed as we are, and now overtime is insane.

We always complain about how incompetent management is, but the one main thing that has never changed until now is ‘Everything goes every day’

It’s obvious to us on the inside that this is a deliberate attack on the post office for personal/political gain.”

10. Delays.

“My office is probably among the better run in my area and it’s not all bad.

But the new delaying mail directives and so on has affected all crafts or positions. Let’s start with clerks: trucks have been late frequently say 4 to 5 times a week. Our clerks are in at 3 am for the first truck at 4. sometimes it doesn’t come until the second truck scheduled time (7)and it spills over their sorting when the counter is open at 8.

Basically we the carriers get sent with what we have and get alert when things are ready. Some days I’ve delivered all my packages before I got mail and vice versa. Then go out with what came. Since the directive? We have super light days followed by heavy days where start time moves from 8am to 7 am.

So no OT is BS when we have mostly rural carriers who are paid based on the evaluated route time and usually aren’t paid ot with the package influx. It’s something in their contracts that they have to do XYZ to get to pay outside of Christmas.

City carriers, which we only have a few, are expected to help out rural routes because we are paid hourly. Though it doesn’t always work the way they want because the days we only deliver minimum mail and packages are always followed by days delivering in the dark. Additionally my office is mostly part time employees so we don’t get set days off.

Though my office does try to give us each one day off. Regulars aren’t saved from this either the few we have are working their days off too. Even amazon Sundays. Before covid amazon Sundays we were always done by 3 pm if not before and no regs.

Now? We’re always out until at least 6 pm. Everyone is tired and no one really wants the imbalanced days.”

11. No more OT.

“My stepdad is a USPS employee and they’re cutting everyones overtime despite the fact that mail is just piling up.”

12. About Dad.

“My dad is a carrier and works at an office that has gone through dozens of equally incompetent postmasters over the years.

Recently his coworker whom he shares a desk with tested positive for COVID and they didn’t even notify my dad or the other employees and didn’t bother to sanitize the room.

My dad only found out because he’s friends with the guy.”

13. From the source.

“My office is fairly small and well run, so we are lucky. However, we have several employees (clerks and carriers) who are out with COVID. No one is allowed to do overtime anymore. I am sure you can see the problem with this.

One solution would be to hire more staff, but there are rules about how many employees of each type and subtype is allowed in each office. After a certain amount of hours lost, the office is allowed to hire temporary employees for a limited time. This is after the damage has been done, and employees are already stressed.

Then, a temp employee come in, and has to learn the rules, systems, routes, etc., depending on their position. It takes a month or two for a temp employee to become reasonably competent, and then their contract is up soon after.

I have friends that work in a much larger major hub post office near us, and they are still somehow being forced to work 60+ hours each week. I know of two new PSEs (basically parcel sorting monkeys) that have quit within two weeks of hiring at that big post office because they were not prepared for the crazy hours and the stress of working 1am to 1:30 pm.

It’s bananas.

We get communications from the new Postmaster General fairly regularly. The last one touted our increase in start times for carriers and a decrease in return trips. Sounds good, right?

No, this means carriers are being pushed out the door before they are ready, and that they are not being allowed to come back to pick up another load because of the new overtime rules for most offices. And that’s why your parcel is late.

I love my job (for real, it’s a great job), but DeJoy is making this difficult for all of us.

Who knows, maybe his changes will end up streamlining our business? I’m skeptical, at best.

I hope you all know that most USPS employees want you to get your mail on time, and we are still trying to help you get your stuff on time whenever possible and save you money when we can.”

How about you?

What do you think about this whole post office fiasco that is going on right now?

Talk to us in the comments and share your thoughts with us. Thanks!

The post Postal Workers Discuss the Craziness That Is Their Jobs Right Now appeared first on UberFacts.

Did You Get Mystery Seeds From China in the Mail? Here’s What You Should Do.

Getting an unexpected delivery in the mail can be exciting, but for Virginia residents, a recent string of strange packages has caused more controversy than smiles.

Several people have received packages of seeds in the mail without even ordering them.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Suspected to originate from China, the seeds shouldn’t be planted, at least according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS).

“The types of seeds in the packages are unknown at this time and may be invasive plant species.

The packages were sent by mail and may have Chinese writing on them.”

According to the VDACS, invasive species wreak havoc on the environment by displacing or destroying native plants and insects and severely damaging crops.

Photo Credit: Twitter

The best way to avoid future problems is by simply not planting the unsolicited seeds. Failure to comply could result in invasive species infestations that can be quite costly to control and eliminate.

Anyone who receives a package containing these strange seeds should contact the Office of Plant Industry Services (OPIS) by calling 804-786-3515. You can also file a report via email at ReportAPest@vdacs.virginia.gov.

While nobody knows exactly where the seeds originate, the Better Business Bureau does have an idea. The BBB believes that the packages could be part of a customer review scam.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Many companies ship cheap items to people in order to write a fake review on behalf of the resident.

The problem has also made its way to Utah. Jane Rupp, president of the state’s BBB chapter, offered some helpful advice to anyone who receives some unsolicited seeds in the mail:

“The first thing to do is Google your address and see what’s out there.

Numerous things will come up when you Google your address. It’s kind of scary sometimes.”

So if you happen to receive a strange package that you didn’t order, it’s best to file a report and follow the advice of the experts.

Photo Credit: Twitter

The last thing we need right now is a plant pandemic.

Have you ever received something you didn’t order in the mail? Has a company tried to pull a quick one on you?

Tell us your experience in the comments below!

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An Irish postman was able to deliver…

An Irish postman was able to deliver a letter with no written address, but had a hand-drawn map of the delivery area with “Here please” written on an arrow pointing to an illustration of a lighthouse. The letter had been sent by a blogger who regularly challenged the postal service.

Postal Service Releases New Stamps Benefiting Veterans With PTSD

One thing that our divided nation can all get together to support is helping out our veterans. And even though the task may seem daunting to many of us, one easy way we can all help out is by purchasing these new stamps the United States Postal Service has put out to benefit military veterans suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sales of the stamps (which cost 65 cents and will cover the cost of a piece of first-class mail) will benefit the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, which oversees the National Center for PTSD.

The photo of the plant sprouting from ground surrounded by dead leaves on the stamp was taken by Mark Laita. The USPS says the image on the stamp is meant to “symbolize the PTSD healing process, growth and hope.”

The USPS explained the motivation behind the stamp:

“With this semipostal stamp, the U.S. Postal Service will raise funds to help treat those impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Tens of millions of Americans will experience PTSD in their lifetimes. Today, the nation is increasingly dedicated to compassionately treating this mental health issue.

Many kinds of trauma can lead people to experience persistent symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and difficulty sleeping. Depression, anxiety, and fear can also occur. Though these symptoms may initially interrupt one’s daily life, for most people they typically dissipate over time. However, if these problems continue for more than a month, PTSD may have developed.”

Go to your local post office to pick up these stamps or you can order them online HERE. Your money will go to a great cause.

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Take a Look at These Commonly Used Words That Are Actually Acronyms

Did you know there are words in the English language (recognized by Webster) that were once acronyms? I suppose they could still be considered acronyms, but our lexicon has adopted them as pieces of vocabulary in their own right.

Here are a few interesting words that were once abbreviations.

5. L.A.S.E.R

Photo Credit: Pixabay

LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The first laser was invented in 1960, but had a different name: LOSER. The “O” stood for ocsillation, because a laser (light) is technically an optical oscillator not an optical amplifier. But as the acronym rapidly spread, oscillation was later replaced by amplification. For obvious reasons.

4. C.A.R.E. Packages

Photo Credit: Pixabay

CARE packages started in 1945 after the end of World War II. Care stood for the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, a group that started preparing packages filled with leftover “humanitarian aid to millions starving in post-war Europe.”

History.com explains, “These first ‘CARE Packages’ contained everything from whole-milk powder and liver loaf to margarine and coffee. The contents of CARE Packages soon expanded to include soap, diapers, school supplies, and medicine as well as fabric, thread, and needles to allow recipients to make and mend clothes.”

3. Navy S.E.A.L.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The SEALs are a group of America’s toughest and most elite navy professionals. Their name stands for “SEa, Air, and Land”. This special operations force adopted the name “SEAL” because of their training and duties spanned “all environments (sea, air, and land)”.

2. S.C.U.B.A.

This well-known activity has been around since 1939. It was first used in military applications, but is now widely enjoyed by vacationers for entertainment, biologists for scientific research, and in many other circumstances. But it wasn’t coined “SCUBA” until 1952.

Wikipedia states, “In the U.S. Major Christian J. Lambertsen invented an underwater free-swimming oxygen rebreather in 1939. In 1952 he patented a modification of his apparatus, this time named SCUBA (an acronym for “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus“).

1. Z.I.P. Codes

As we all know, this term is used to help the post office designate what township or region a building or home location resides. It means Zone Improvement Plan Code.

The ZIP code “was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently and quickly (zipping along) when senders use the code in the postal address.”

Before ZIP codes’ inception, delivering mail was taxing. Robert Moon, a career postal employee, created the first codes, consisting of only 3 numbers that notated each central mail processing facility. It wasn’t until 1963 that the ZIP codes expanded to five numbers so as to have more combinations available to accurately reflect area.

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In Victorian London, mail was…

In Victorian London, mail was delivered to homes 12 times a day. “Return of post” was a commonly used phrase for requesting an immediate response to be mailed at the next scheduled delivery. It was quite common for people to complain if a letter didn’t arrive within a few hours.