The Pony had a bit of excitement at work last week. As he came out the back of the building into the parking lot, he spied a sight that set his heart racing.
"Look! We're getting a new LLV! [Long Life Vehicle] Well. New to US. The last ones were made in the 90s. But it has to be better than some of the ones we have now. And also one of the little Dodge vans!"
I had to trim the picture of identifiable people. The guy pushing the orange cart (I'm sure there's a special name for it) is another of the CCAs. The Pony has helped him on some routes. Not as a favor, but as assigned by management for those who have completed their portion, to assist those still making deliveries. As one of the newer hires, The Pony goes where needed. Those carts are how they get their trucks loaded.
Anyhoo... This Guy is 2nd in seniority among The Pony's classification. The Pony is 9th, I think, out of 12. He says This Guy has been doing this specific job since January. So it would appear that there's a lot of turnover in the ranks. In fact, The Pony was working with one other CCA on a Saturday, and he just quit. Right then. So The Pony had to finish the deliveries. He said four have been hired since he started in April, and one of THOSE already quit. Right in the middle of her first day.
"What route did she have?"
"Over where you grew up. On the streets by where the school was."
"Why? That's not a bad area. It's mostly flat. Hardly any traffic. I can imagine lots of worse streets."
"Mom! It's the ONE-WAY STREETS!"
"So...?"
"You have to keep going back and forth on them. It's horrible for delivery!"
"Well. Maybe not the best assignment for somebody's first day, I guess."
Anyhoo... The Pony just got his 50-cent per hour raise after 12 weeks. He's flying high. Not the gimp wrist nor the cat-scratched pinky nor even the bottle rocket shot at his LLV on Saturday seem to hamper his spirits.
As long as he's happy.
ReplyDeleteHe actually said today that if only he'd applied sooner, he might have made "regular" by now. It can take up to 2 years for a City Carrier Assistant to make City Carrier. Depending on open slots. It comes with a pay raise and better benefits.
DeleteDoesn't everyone know about one-way streets and mail delivery?
ReplyDeleteActually I still don't get it.
I don't get it. I didn't want to ask for an explanation. You know, after that whole ENGLAND IS AN ISLAND revelation straight from The Pony's mouth. It's not like they weave back and forth across the street with odd and even numbered addresses. They go down one side, and come back up the other. As far as I know, anyway.
DeleteThese streets he's talking about are divided by a little park area. Houses only on one side of the one-way street.
I'm happy that The Pony is enjoying his work and of course the pay doesn't hurt either. I'm glad they are getting new (to them) vehicles. I like the look of that boxy little van.
ReplyDeleteThe Pony really likes the van, because it has AIR CONDITIONING! He doesn't get to drive a van very often. Just a couple times so far.
DeleteAww, I am happy he has air conditioning and is not sweating his hat off. He seems to be ahard worker. I had a friend who worked as a letter carrier and said he intended to retire at age 35. He did!
ReplyDeleteThe Pony has already researched the top salary, which is attained after 12 years, and that of several other classifications. I think he might plan to stick with it. That salary is $15,000 more than my final salary after 28 years of teaching!
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