A note to my United States Postal Carrier

Dear Thin Lady with the Hoodie who stands at our subdivision mailboxes peering intently at the letters in your hand:

Please go find another job.
This is not working for us. It can't be working very well for you, either, based on the conversation I had with our postmaster one day last week, and a mail supervisor the day before. And honestly, I'm working up to another conversation with the postmaster about the quality of our mail delivery service.  (I learned also that mine was among MANY complaints received in recent weeks, so this is not new.)

I know the current carriers are training you so that they can have a little time off from their current six-day-a-week delivery schedule. I talked to your aunt. She was not helpful. She said, "I'm doing the best I can."

It isn't enough.

You actually have a handbook that describes in detail the requirements of your job as a rural postal carrier. There is a lot to learn and a great deal of reporting accountability, and I can certainly see where aspects of the job are difficult to remember.

But when you get it all together, your job is to deliver the correct mail to the address on the package/envelope, and not put it in someone else's box. You are not doing that very well. If you are dyslexic, then find a job that doesn't require you to read numbers and letters with complete accuracy.  It isn't this one.

Twice in the last two weeks, I have had packages placed in others' mailboxes (and I'm wondering now about things expected over the last few months but never received). You had no way of knowing what was inside: it could have been a priceless heirloom, a birthday gift, prescription medication, a freebie giveaway. IT DOESN'T MATTER what was inside: your job is to deliver the mail to the address. You failed to do that.

In one case, my neighbor/friend called to tell me about it, and I retrieved the package from him. In the other, it was left in someone's box who I don't know well, and it was retrieved by a Postal Service supervisor who came out to the subdivision boxes after I went to the post office to find out what to do, since the package sender had called to make sure I'd received it and was able to track it as having been placed in the parcel locker. The supervisor opened the main panel of the mailboxes and searched through all the individual slots until he found my package which, despite having been delivered the previous day, was thankfully still in the individual's locker box.

I'd really like to believe that the person in whose box it was placed would have notified me or returned it to the Post Office or left it in the box with a note that said "Misdelivered." That's what I would do.  But what if they didn't? What if it was medication that they could steal or sell? Or financial account information that could be used for identify theft? A check that could be cashed? Government documents that could jeopardize a person's medical or legal benefits? Are we going to find stacks of mail behind a dumpster that you just didn't have time to delivery properly? Yikes.
 
YOU are liable and responsible, missy, just as much as the person who receives mail not intended for them.

You have a solemn and clear responsibility to deliver the mail only to the person to whom it is addressed, and you did not do that. I'm now waiting on a report from my doctor who told me it was mailed last week, and then again on Tuesday. Not here yet. We'll see if it comes tomorrow. (And of course I will check with the doctor before I head for the Post Office.)

Mail delivery is not just a job, it is a trust, a contract, between the sender and the carrier to get it to where it needs to go. I have great respect for the US Postal Service for doing an immense job correctly most of the time, and I am amazed that it goes as well as it does. But you're a weak link here, and it sounds as though you've had adequate time to learn the process. Please find something else to do, for both our sakes. Because I won't stop complaining until it's right.

#Reverb14, Day 17

1. How can you stop being an a**hole, get out of your own way and make room for more of your magic to happen in 2015?
2. Work: What sort of work did you do in 2014?  Was it new to you?  Did you take on new responsibilities?  Change jobs?  Or take on a new task at home?
  

 Boy howdy, I am behind on prompts! That's what happens when I have stuff to do during the day, I guess.

So I'm not really sure that I can relate much to the first prompt. As a retiree, I pretty much go with the flow of things and try to do what appeals to me. I've been open to what comes along and about giving most opportunities a shot before I either abandon it or pursue something further. 

I'm sure that I'm pretty good at being an asshole too, but I don't think it happens as frequently as it used to, mostly because I really try not to put myself in positions where I revert to that behavior. 

And work. No, I did not work outside the home, with a boss, for pay. I didn't do anything for actual pay. I don't WANT to do anything like that, frankly!

But I worked. I worked on ME. I worked on my attitude of gratitude. I worked on fear and anxiety and diminishing it. I worked on inviting more spirit into my life. I worked at loving who I am, warts, extra pounds, judgmental attitude, and all. 

This is not new to me. But the freedom to really work at it is still a huge blessing, and to be free of distractions like making a living and dealing with unpleasant people at  a job. 

More positive work is ahead in 2015, I'm sure. I've begun some new things that I am having fun pursuing, and I want to be open to more of those.

August Moon 14: Day 5: The perfect (work) day

What would your perfect work day be like?

Whatever scenario that you have conjured, how does it make you feel when you picture yourself in it?

Not here any more. Not for a few years now. Won't be again, not in this lifetime.

I can tell you that working for myself was the perfect work day, however. I loved the flexibility to set my own schedule -- when my daughter was in school, I could attend after-school soccer games or track meets or assemblies without taking 'personal time.' If I had appointments, I could adjust my own time to accommodate them. I got to get out and meet and talk with people enough to keep me from being a total hermit, but there were plenty of home days in sweats and no makeup as I wrote stories or fanned the creative muse. Nobody but me was responsible for my meeting deadlines and completing projects, or pitching projects and making them happen. I was harder on myself than nearly any manager I ever had.

I found this out by working in other areas for much of my career although I did a lot of freelance work too. I liked my nonprofit work too, although working with a diverse board of directors can be a challenge especially if there are political landmines to both identify and avoid stepping on. But I enjoyed promoting a 'product' or service that benefited the public. I liked selling intangible benefits and I was pretty good at coming up with ways to do that. The stuff I didn't like was the office games and power politics and snarkiness.

But when it came to lining some big honcho's pockets with corporate dollars, I didn't do so well. Oh, I made some good money at it, and tried hard to believe that the products we were selling really would improve lives and make a far better difference than those of our competitors, but it was the politics that eventually got me. The jockeying for position within the company and department. The gossip. The backbiting and clock-watching. (Funny how everyone noticed what time you arrived but nobody saw when you left...) The lack of good people managers -- maybe they were smart enough in their field, but TERRIBLE at taking care of their direct reports. The reorganizations. The hockey-stick sales projections that MUST be met. The lack of interest in anything remotely personal or humanitarian or service-oriented.

Not for me, that life. I am no good at being political. I am lousy at gossip. I expect people to be truthful and loyal and decent to each other. And they weren't.

I am happy to be retired from working. My toughest critic is still me. My schedule is still flexible. And the benefits are great.

Reverb 10 -- letting go of a career path

Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I'm not a freelance writer anymore. My wrist accident in January pretty much ended that part of my career, at least temporarily because I couldn't take notes or type with any accuracy for about seven weeks, but I'd been feeling some angst about it before then anyway.

I've loved hearing people's stories and learning about new places and things and events all around Tehama County, but putting them into a story with a limited word count has frustrated me for some time. I worry about doing the stories justice, about being faithful to the words and the emotions behind them, about telling the stories accurately but compassionately. And for the most part I think I managed that pretty well, but it was usually like opening a vein for me and dripping the words onto the keyboard.

So I let go of that part of my life, and not unhappily, especially since I was able to start a friend on a freelance path, and I left still being friends with my editors. Could I do it again? Definitely. Do I want to? No. I have other things I need to be doing, at least right now.

That doesn't mean I don't write, obviously. I'm just telling my stories, with however many words it takes. And I know there is a book coming, although I don't know yet what form it will take: fiction, memoir, essay?

Actually, I let go of my working life completely in 2010, since I filed for Social Security in January. No more job hunting, interviews, kowtowing to corporate rules, dealing with office politics. No more trying to fit this round peg into that square hole -- something I've done for most of my working life. I've always been too outspoken and too ethical to thrive in a corporate setting, although I tried (and I did a good job for them too). I did better in nonprofits which better suited my ethics and desire to make a difference in people's lives, but salaries were always pitifully low, alas.

So I'm now a former teacher, former public relations director, former communications director, former marcom writer/manager, former content manager, former Realtor, former freelance writer. There won't be another job like those. Ever.

But I don't feel retired either. That'll come, maybe, when Tony retires. And I am not unhappy to let these jobs go, end my 'working for pay' careers. If I ever make money on something again, it will be doing what I want to do. That's a good way to end that part of my life.