“Through rain, snow, sleet, or hail, and the gloom of night”
Finding herself underemployed, Jess Stoner got a job at the United States Postal Service. She lasted twelve weeks.
In my short three months on the job, I developed a strength I hated: staying silent. I did not contradict my supervisor when she told my coworkers and union steward that I smoked in my vehicle (I never did); I kept quiet when she screamed at a clerk standing next to me that CCAs shouldn’t be allowed to complain about her to the union (I never did, but it was my right to do so); I raged quietly when an assistant supervisor told my fellow carriers that I said I had finished earlier than they did because they went out to lunch (I said no such thing).
The ludicrous complexities and red tape of the postal service are an unhidden secret, but this is the first thing I’ve ever read that’s ever really humanized that struggle for me, especially in the face of the deluge of news stories we hear about evil postal workers who dispose of our precious mail. “When I watch videos of them tossing packages into a river,” Long writes, “I think: Anyone who delivers your mail has dreamed of doing that. Not because they’re lazy or vindictive. But because many have no days off, no job security, and an unhealthy work environment where they are constantly forced to work in violation of labor laws.”
Stoner asserts that the problem isn’t with the system, nor will privatizing the service result in any substantial changes (it’s true: UPS has recently been sued for racial bias, and FedEx for using loopholes to withhold pay and benefits) — — it comes down to, Stoner believes, the people. The higher ups are under stress to perform and save money, the unions are losing power, the postmaster general was just named Scrooge of the year — — all this trickles down to the daily delivery workers, who get blamed for the incompetence of their superiors. Stoner reminds us to be kind: holiday tips, water and Gatorade, cookies and treats are all good ways to start. (*thinks about all the drunk Amazon orders I’ve ever made, slinks away in shame*)