One Day Event TOMORROW!!

[misstia]

Thursday, February 4, ONE DAY EVENT: It's Thank a Mailman Day! Postal carriers in ads, ads dealing with the mail service and please thank your mail carrier!

Any kind of ad dealing with mail, letters, zip codes, etc

I know many people think mail carriers make big bucks, but most of those who did have retired. The ones working now usually are at around $12-14/hour, which yes, is a good hourly wage but it's not the mythical $25/hour. Walking routes are physically demanding. Up and down steps for mail boxes, traversing snow/ice covered walks, going into dangerous neighborhoods, etc. All while lugging a heavy bag. The box trucks don't really warm up much, so in the winter they're pretty frozen all day.

Yes, the post office management sucks but that's not the carrier's fault. And to be fair to the management, though they overspent on far too many new buildings 15+ years ago; their requirement to prefund their retirement by congress is an unnecessary burden.

People dislike getting bills in the mail, obviously. But remember, back in the long long ago, when people wrote letters? How awesome it was to get a letter in the mail and have something tangible? I often bemoan the loss of at least several generations of written history that'll be 'missing' due to influx of email taking over letters.

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

I remember letters! I'd eagerly check the mailbox and savor every letter! :)

The historian in me cringes at all the lost history because of e-mails. :(

[misstia]

I believe you and I have had this conversation before---about history being lost, as I'm a historian too. It is just cringe worthy, heartbreaking, and there's going to be a huge gap in not only societal history but in family histories. People don't realize the importance tangible items like letters and diaries can have in helping the next, or future generations learn about not only us as individuals; but our time, what was going on, how we dealt with things, etc.

I really miss letters in the mail too :( It's disheartening when people claim they have no time for letters; but um, you can play 20 levels of Candy Crush? No offense to CC, just making a point. I still have most letters, cards, and post cards sent to me.

[bradygirl_12]

Yes, we historians realize what's at stake. Even something as simple as letters showing words crossed out is lost. E-mails erase all corrections.

Yeah, amazing how people can't spend time to write or read a letter but can do all sorts of video games. Of course, video games bore me to tears so I can'i understand the attraction.

[dandyads]

I made $11/hour at the post office and that was like 15 years ago.. time and a half on Sundays. I remember there were a lot of union politics and working at the actual post office, i.e. in customer service, was considered the cushiest job, I think because most other gigs there skew way more toward manual labor. Those "desk" positions only went to people who'd worked there forever.

[dandyads]

btw I will add - my salary might have been at the higher end of the range because I was in a higher cost-of-living area BUT that $11-15 range is for casual employees (temporary non-union jobs). Those jobs are meant to be temporary and there's even a pretty strict limit of how long you can be a temp -- eventually you have to either leave or take the exam, join the union, etc. Today, my old $11/hr temp job definitely pays $25+/hr plus OT and benefits for permanent employees.

Of course none of this to say that it's easy to work there.. it was probably the most physically demanding & stressful jobs I ever had. I was a zombie for 3 months, but I made way more than I would've at the mall.

[thedabara-cds.livejournal.com]

Totally agree - I have some old postcards and letters that were handed down in my family; the WW2 V-mails are particularly special. And they can be a huge help when doing family tree research.

Many years ago, I was on an online fanboard where some longtime members posted our addresses and sent each other holiday cards. It was a real kick getting cool Christmas cards from five different continents!