I can be fired if your dog bites me
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Most dog owners worry that a bite could sue them. But it turns out that if your dog attacks a mail carrier, the pup can get the mail carrier in trouble too, says Jeff, who has worked as a mail carrier for 20 years. “In all my time, I’ve never been bitten by a dog, but I’ve had to pepper spray a few. this upset their owners very much, but I had no choice. it is a rule that we have to carry pepper spray and use it if necessary,” he says. “the usps gives us rules on how to avoid dog bites and if i don’t follow them my job may be at risk. The first rule is to stop delivering mail to a house that has a dog considered a “threat”, which can make people angry, but I have to follow the rules or else it’s partly my fault that they bit me.” .
I get paid to exercise
Have you ever complained that you just don’t have time to exercise? You should consider a career as a mail carrier, says Bob, a veteran postal worker with 29 years of experience. “I can walk most of my route. I like to walk. I always have. my anxiety dissipates. and if the mail volume is perfect (not too light and not too heavy) it sounds like I’m dancing! it flows,” he explains. Here’s what to do if your package arrives damaged or doesn’t arrive at all.
I have been called to testify in criminal trials
The longer you do this job, the more weird things you’ll see, including crime, all of our mail carriers told us. “I’ve seen a lot of car accidents, like a lot of hit-and-runs. I’ve seen pirates on the porch stealing packages. I have seen fights. The police once asked me to make a statement in court about what I saw during a drunken fight that spilled over into the street,” says Jeff. “I always try to yell or write down license plates or do whatever I can to help.” Take a look at 23 Things Your Postman Won’t Tell You.
this job has messed up my driving
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“Driving on the right side of a vehicle is a real mind shift,” Bob says. “I spend so much time in my postal vehicle that it now baffles me when I have to sit on the left side to drive my own car. parking a normal car is the worst now!” these are the weirdest things postal workers have seen on the job.
some clients are like family
working on the same route for a long time can make you very fond of that neighborhood and some of the people who live in it, says bob. “Once one of my clients was murdered, which was a tragedy,” he says. “But I also saw how it affected the neighborhood and how many of the neighbors came out to support the family, which was really beautiful.”
I care about you
Collecting your mail can be an afterthought, but if you let it pile up for too long, it can cause your postman a lot of heartache, and not just because they have to play tetris to fit all your packages into their box. “please empty your mailbox every day!” bob says. “When you let the mail pile up in the mailbox, we care about you; it may be a sign that he has fallen or had a stroke or is incapacitated in some other way.”
I never wanted to be a “postman when I grow up”
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Along with firefighter and doctor, mail carrier is one of the careers many kids say they want to be when they grow up. And while that may be true for some, it’s definitely not the case for Marcy, a portfolio who just finished her first year on the job. “I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if I always dreamed of being a postman. the answer is no,” she says. “As a matter of fact, I’m in school studying for my dream job. this job is what I do to pay for my true dream.”
children are the cutest
“I recently found a letter that was obviously written by a child. it was folded and on the outside, they had written ‘grandma [last name]’ and the city and state, but that was it,” says marcy. “I took it to the office, which has a lot of loving grandfathers and grandmothers, and they put it in an envelope and tracked the address, paid the postage themselves, and mailed it. We can’t always do that, but I like to think he made someone’s day.”
think gift cards, not gin
If you want to thank your mail carrier, a gift card or cash is always appreciated. however, many people want to give away bottles of alcohol, especially around the holidays, and it’s probably not a great idea. “A customer gave me a bottle of Irish whiskey that had already been opened. I thanked him but had to say no as it would be illegal to bring the open bottle into my vehicle and continue delivering my route,” Bob says. Take a look at 12 weird things mail carriers see every day.
record change in your envelope actually works
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Don’t you have a stamp? You can put the fifty-five cents in your mailbox, says Jeff. “If you put the exact change in there with your envelope, most of us will take it to the office, put a stamp on it, and mail it for you. just don’t do it much, please,” he says. “Your other option is to write ‘postage pending’ on the envelope. I can still mail it, but then I’ll have to knock on their door to get the rest of the money. I hate doing that, don’t do that.”
some clients can get pretty creepy
“A client left me a framed portrait he had drawn of me. It was nice… I guess,” says Marcy. “In fact, it scared the hell out of me that he had looked at me long enough to know my face well enough to draw it or that he had been secretly taking pictures of me. ugh.”
skip the homemade treats
If you want to please your mail carrier, consider packaged candy or bottles of juice or water instead of a loaf of your favorite banana bread. “Lots of people have given me homemade cookies and stuff, but unless I know you really well, I’m not going to eat them,” Jeff says. “Call me crazy, but I’m not taking the risk of food poisoning or someone filling it with marijuana or whatever. I like you but I don’t necessarily trust you.”
you should invest in a lockbox
if you still have a simple mailbox with a door in the front and a red flag, you really need to update it, says marcy. “Unfortunately, package and mail theft is very common these days and once I’ve delivered the mail, it’s no longer my responsibility,” she says. “In my experience, it only takes a simple lockable mailbox to deter most thieves; just make sure it’s cemented into the ground so they can’t take the whole box.” receive many packages? invest in a porch storage locker for her, she adds. then find out what your mail carrier knows about you.