The timing of our recent sleet/snow storms was advantageous for The Pony. On the days he was scheduled to work, the mail trucks had not been able to deliver. Then there was his regular day off, the National Day of Mourning, and a day he had scheduled for leave before knowing such a storm was brewing.
Saturday, The Pony had to return to work. He found out Friday that the person covering his route that day had not been able to make it in. So all that mail would be there waiting. And while getting ready Saturday, The Pony received a text from work.
At least The Pony had Hick swinging by to drive him to work, so no need to scrape off the new snow from his Rogue. And with temps supposed to hit the mid-30s, some melting would start. The deep snow meant that The Pony would have to wear boots, which get pretty heavy and uncomfortable by the end of the 11-mile route. He was taking his regular shoes, in case the boots became unbearable.
As I sit here typing at 1:25, I've had no updates from The Pony. Hick must not have much business at his SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2.5), because he sent a text saying that he might go by to give The Pony a ride home when he gets off work. It's the little things.
You probably never consider how many events must synchronize to enable you to pick up that junk mail out of your mailbox.
I don't remember if I asked this before but does The Pony have those cleat/Trax things to put on his shoes/boots? Living in Minnesota, we are exposed to lots of snow (usually, but not so far this year) and freezing rain, sleet and just plain melted refrozen snow and those cleat/Trax things for your boots or shoes are literally, life savers. So many people fall and hit their heads, and it can be fatal. These things for your shoes help give you confidence when walking on ice and I think every postal worker should have them, as we know not everyone is diligent about clearing their sidewalks etc., not to mention the city/town sidewalks, that I'm sure The Pony must use to go from house to house. I do appreciate what all of our postal workers go through to deliver the junk mail. I have also worked at eliminating my junk mail, over the years, but when you move, your address ends up being distributed all over again and the junk mail starts coming through. It's easier to eliminate on the internet, but still a pain. We, however, have had instances where the mail was literally, just thrown in a snowbank near the home because the mail person chose not to walk up a hill to deliver it to the box. There have been other occasions where it was found in a ditch, in the vicinity of the address but no hills and no bad roads or driveways. Unfortunately, there have been enough bad experiences that people have a bad taste in their mouths, when it comes to the mail, in our state. Some locations are worse than others, of course, but it has been quite bad. Our local post office manager is female, and she is a b word, that sounds like witch and has been known to just hang up on people. She is not a people person. I've talked to her myself, and when several of our bills, all picked up on the same day, were missing, she had no solution nor indicated she would make any attempt to find what may have happened. These bills ended up showing up at the allocated businesses, weeks after I paid money to stop the checks and ended up paying online. I have to admit, even my feelings toward the postal service had an odor that I had trouble forgiving. I hope The Pony stays safe. Ranee
ReplyDeleteYes! The Pony has those cleat thingies that are like bungee cords with metal blades on them. They come in different sizes, and the post office gives them to the carriers. Also, if the steps are not cleared and look too dangerous, The Pony is allowed to skip that house.
DeleteThe local office had a carrier dump several trays of mail in a dumpster during the first summer The Pony started working. Right on a main street, where all the passing cars could see her! Someone called, and the manager went and retrieved the mail, and fired the carrier.
The Pony does not like delivering some of that "junk mail," because they go to every house. So more stops those days, rather than just the houses that actually have mail. However, The Pony says that junk mail is what pays his salary.