Please Mr. Postman
(Is there a letter in your bag for me?) Please Please Mister Postman
(Why's it been a very long time)...
So many days you passed me by
You saw the tears standin' in my eye
You wouldn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter
You better wait a minute, wait a minute
Oh you better wait a minute
Please please Mister Postman (Wait a minute Mister Postman)
Please check and see just one more time for me
You better wait, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute."
This song, written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, and Robert Bateman, though originally recorded in 1961 by the Marvellettes (and then covered by The Beatles) still resonates today. Even in this age of email and text, "real" mail is a necessity. I may be an "old lady" but there are things that I look forward to and expect in my mailbox.
I have written about mail woes before:
From July: https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2019/07/norwood-avenue.html
From last December: https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/where-do-i-live-us-postal-service-story.html
Before I get into a rant (and you KNOW there will be a rant), let me say that I KNOW being a mail carrier must be a difficult job. It's hard physically; all that walking, carrying and dealing with other issues. It must be hard mentally as you are pretty much on your own all day long. It might be hard spiritually. It COULD be a thankless job. ONLY I have thanked my carriers and shown my appreciation plenty of times in the past. My husband and I have lived at the same address for 24 years. In those 24 years, we have had many different mail carriers, but 3 immediately come to mind. Robert, Diane and Rumba. They all did excellent jobs. They were friendly and came to think of them as friends or extended family. When I saw them, even when they were not on my "route" I would smile and wave and they would do the same. I know that when my son turned one, I gave Rumba a piece of birthday cake. I grieved when they moved to new posts. (And in some cases I don't think they wanted to go.) They were each in their own way an important part of my family's life. I appreciated them and I know they knew that. They exemplified what a mail carrier should be.
Maybe you think this kind of service no longer exists. It's the product of a bygone time. (Even if that time was only 5-10 years ago.) It DOES still exist. I've seen it in action at a post office in a town near my office. (NOT the town that my office is in however.) I've seen it in a post office at the Jersey Shore. I've heard about the quality of mail delivery service that my parents have received at the shore. So it DOES exist.
It just doesn't exist in most places. And again, I KNOW the working for the post office is not necessarily an easy job. BUT...
I have not been thrilled with my mail carrier's "work ethic." We go days where she passes by our house without stopping. Sure there are days when we may not have any mail that needs to be delivered to us, but not so many! And I LIKE my weekly circulars. (Now I KNOW I sound like an old lady.) I am cost conscious. Shoprite will mail out circulars that include coupons that cannot be found in store circulars. There are weeks when we get none; then there will be a week when we get more than one. It has come to the point where I ask a co-worker who lives in a two family home (where she is currently the only resident) in a different city to bring me a circular. And every time she does, there are coupons that I need and use. Money that I would NOT have saved because my postal worker does not deem it necessary to deliver.
I also understand that mail delivery may be tedious and boring. I have no problem with listening to music or talking on the phone during rounds...IF it doesn't distract you from what you are supposed to be doing. It seems to me it is...I also know what block/route you DON'T like because you were loud enough for my husband to hear (even though you didn't deliver anything to our mailbox). I don't think I'm the only one who is bothered by this because there have been times when our delivery person has NOT been on the phone; these are times when said person has been accompanied by a supervisor. (Things that make you go...hmmm....)
Let me be frank; my husband recently updated our profiles on several financial sites so that we would no longer receive paper statements. We did so because we weren't getting them any way and who knows where they were ending up.
I also want to say to businesses that use USPS for delivery. Add extra time when you track. I received a notification several days ago about an order that I had place. The email's subject line: Your package will arrive soon! Now let's look at the tracking timeline (read from the bottom up):
Package was IN the next town over (less than 5 miles away) on Tuesday. I (reluctantly) get why it didn't make it out that day. Our mail was delivered on Wednesday before 3 PM. There was no package. The "Delivery Attempted - No Access To Delivery Location" is total bull...why could an envelope with local coupons and 2 postcard advertisements make its way to my mailbox, but a package (and it's not a big package) not make it? Why the BS?
Now I've also heard that packages don't get delivered in a timely fashion due to overtime. A delivery person has a set route and a set time to deliver. They SHOULD make it. If they can't for some reason...just say that. I'm not thrilled, but it's HONEST. It actually shows good faith. (Of which I have none.)
Look, I get that the postal service is hard. I understand that money is being lost. I'm willing to pay a bit more for stamps. I'm willing to forgo mail service on Saturday. I bet there are other concessions that I'd be willing to go with too; if only you would be HONEST with me and follow through. Deliver my mail when there is mail to be delivered. Listen to me when I make a complaint. (I'm doing so for a reason.) You don't have to give PERFECT service, but just plain old service would be good.
A smile? A wave? That would put you over the top and I can guarantee you wouldn't regret it.
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