Back when I used to be a mail carrier for the United States Post Office, tons of the most insane things happened. I’ll post one of the weirdest stories Friday. Today, I’ll talk about why I was delivering mail in the first place.
After I graduated from college, I got a job offer from a company in Virginia. It seemed great and I was all for it. But, for various reasons, I had to wait a little while before I could actually start working. During this time, I was sitting at my parents’ house in Michigan while those things got sorted out. I was bored and did nothing all day.
My dad was retired and he kinda wanted another job. He was thinking about applying for the “casual carrier” position for the Detroit post office. What casual carriers do is fill in at a particular post office wherever they’re needed. They do a lot but the position is only temporary. A casual carrier works 90 day cycles and can only do 2 of those cycles per year. The goal is to do so well that you’ll become a real mail carrier.
My dad had applied and really wanted to do it. Since I was sitting around the house, he suggested that I apply too. I told him I shouldn’t because I’d end up taking his job. I also didn’t want to drag sacks of mail around. He said “hogwash”. I applied.
I got a call not too long afterwards that said I can come down to the main post office in downtown Detroit. My dad was a bit upset that I got the interview and didn’t even want it. But I think he was more upset that they didn’t give him that same call.
The interview was an information session where they gave all of the rules of being a postal carrier. They made me fill out a fat application packet where I had to give background information and such. They also gave me a date to meet up with a driving instructor so they could make sure I was able to drive with the steering wheel on the right side.
I went through the process a little too smoothly and ended up getting the job. The job was a lot of hard work, a lot of walking, and a lot of fun. I met some interesting people in the post office that I didn’t keep in touch with. I also met a lot of people while I was delivering mail that I couldn’t get away from fast enough. Friday’s story will be about one of those people.
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yeah daddy was pissed. did he actually try to sue them or was it just talk?
He acted like he was gonna sue them. He talked to the head of HR down there and they ended up offering him a job. But by then I had told him what it took to do that job. That was when he realized he didn’t even want it anymore.
hahaaa, i remember that era
Yeah that was one of the most taxing jobs I’ve ever had. But looking around this office, you’d think that sitting at a desk and mashing a keyboard was the most stressful thing on the planet. AND I made as much money weekly at that job as I did at my first job in VA.
I never knew you did that. Learn something new everyday.
Yeah it was a great experience minus the part 2 story. That was just an experience.