I just thought I'd vent on here since it's been a week without the monkey. I had taken a job with the USPS as a casual carrier. My job was to basicly deliver mail and that was it. Well little did I know that our local USPS office is retarded.
So they send you 80 miles out of your way, for 4 days of training which they pay you for and pay for your mileage and hotel. It's more of an orientation than anything. The people who tought that were very professional, very direct, and answered all questions. I figured hey, if this is how working for the USPS would be then it's good I got into it. I come home and go down a few days later about 40 miles away for the auto training to drive the little USPS cars. No biggy, they are suspose to pay for that mileage as well. They tell me to start work on Thursday (of last week).
So I show up on time, I have my OJI (on the job instructor) show me things I'm suspose to do, and I follow him around for an entire route. I think he said it had 500+ stops. In our area that is a lot of stops according to him. The route is suspose to be a 4.5hr route (well their paper says 5.5hr) to deliver. He does it in about 3. I kept that walking pace up but by the end of the day my feet were littered with blisters. You are suspose to have 3 days of OJI training. Everything seemed ok. I asked what time to report the next day and it was different than the previous day. I thought oh well, maybe I'm not in the system yet. So I come in and we do the same thing except he'd give me mail to help deliver. I was about 5 ft behind him on this day but things still finished in due time. I thought things were going good and such.
Come Saturday they told me that I wasn't going to get my 3rd day of training and that I'd have to do the entire route myself. I figured ok so I'd try it. I went in at 9:30. I was suspose to be there at 6:30 but that is the great communication that the USPS has with it's workers. They didn't care and I just went ahead and loaded my truck, did everything I was suspose to do, and went on about my job. While doing so they preach that you should be back in the office by 5 p.m. So around 2:30 I called and said there's no way I'd be done, I had like half the truck still full so they sent some people over to help. These "people" which were other USPS mail carriers told my supervisor that I had no sense of ugency. Well that wasn't a big surprise to me. I was tire, my feet were killing me, and I didn't have a real clue what I was doing. So after Saturday I got out of there at 6 p.m, and no one got their packages that day
or their certified mail and some didn't get mail at all.
Yesterday was my final and last attempt at this after seeing how this place is ran. They told me to report at 6:30 a.m. So I came in at 6:30. My supervisor wasn't there yet so I had no idea what to do. Someone came over and had me help with delivering mail to the stations and sorting it. I explained to them that I had no training but it didn't matter. I did this until 11 a.m when I was informed that I'd be delivering 1/3 of a route (was more like half) of the one I was doing. I figured ok, it's pouring rain, my 4th day, and I should be able to do this in 2hrs, but since I'm new figure 4hrs. I went to go eat lunch and came back. They had given me express stuff to deliver which is right away. So I wait around, get my keys and load the truck. I leave at close to 1 p.m. I get the packages out and start delivering mail. I tried calling 2 different cell phones and 2 different office numbers to tell them that I wasn't going to be done by 5 p.m since that is when they want everyone back in there. So 5 p.m comes around and I still have like 6 blocks of mail to deliver. I got 4 of them done and just said screw it. I drove back, dropped everything off, put mail in bins which I think was right, and left. The one time that I got someone on the phone I was told that I had to "pick the pace up" and keep going. But it's a double standard. They want you to pick the pace up BUT do it safely. How safe can power walking with mail in each hand in the pouring rain be? Oh yeah I was written up for not using a turn signal OR my shoulder belt (though they tell you that you don't have to use the shoulder belt). I was like whatever. Time left, 6:15 p.m.
Needless to say I got home and basicly broke down. I tried so hard to stay with the job but with the case of being slow, being told that as a Casual employee you can be fired at any time, being told you're slow again, being told again and again about being fired for any reason, not being able to get a hold of anyone, not knowing who your supervisor is after asking 10 times, not given the 3rd day of training (not like it would have helped), given unrealistic time tables to finish things, being told if I fall or get hurt that I am not covered by anything by various full time carriers I figured it was time to call it quits. I basicly wanted to beat or hit something but knew as a federal job that wouldn't be a smart idea.
So my supervisor (who I think) calls me this morning at 9:30 asking why I'm not there. I go on to explain to him that I didn't think it was working out and he said "yeah I figured that". I really had no words at that point as that anger had sat in again. He goes to tell me that I better not use him or the USPS as a refrence because he'll give a accurate refrence of my inablity to call at 6:30 to tell him that I wasn't going to be in. I told him for one I didn't know what time I was suspose to be in because of the fact that I don't get a schedule, it's just day to day as needed but that didn't matter. He just got very argumentive with me about not using him or the company as a refrence. I told him that I wouldn't think about it and didn't plan on having any refrences with the USPS. Right after that coversation I knew that this wasn't and isn't the place for me.
So now I gotta go down and fill out some fourm saying that I quit. I also have to turn in my recepts for the hotel and mileage since they don't have their poop together. I'm dreading it though because if the others that I have to deal with act like this supervisor I dunno how I'll hold it all together. It feels very.....in the attack dealing with these people. I dunno if this office is just like this or the entire USPS deal but I dunno. I thought that maybe it would be a good step to get my foot into a door but they basicly pay you a lot ($18/hr) but work you 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, with only Sunday's off. As a casual you get no rotating other days off, no benifits, no sick leave, no nothing. They make it sound to you that if you call in sick you can be fired, if you get written up for something you did while delivering mail (like stick it in the wrong box) you can get fired, if you piss wrong in the toliet you can get fired. I can't stand that type of attitude. No wonder so many people get work with the USPS and then quit. Atleast in the carrier position.
The funny thing is about all this is that I took all the tests, interviews, finger prints, background checks to be a "carreer" employee. That just means that they work you the same but you get benifits and you are backed by a union. I got stuck with this "casual" job because there were no openings for a "carreer" job.
I'm just venting my frustrations. It sucks to spend basicly a month-6 weeks trying to benifit yourself and your living conditions to have it all come down to this. I know that making $18/hr with no experence is like a godsend but it's not worth it. I'd rather make $10-12 and hour and have a life, normal working hours, and best of all semi-normal workers around me. For $18 it's like slave labor.
Rant over
So they send you 80 miles out of your way, for 4 days of training which they pay you for and pay for your mileage and hotel. It's more of an orientation than anything. The people who tought that were very professional, very direct, and answered all questions. I figured hey, if this is how working for the USPS would be then it's good I got into it. I come home and go down a few days later about 40 miles away for the auto training to drive the little USPS cars. No biggy, they are suspose to pay for that mileage as well. They tell me to start work on Thursday (of last week).
So I show up on time, I have my OJI (on the job instructor) show me things I'm suspose to do, and I follow him around for an entire route. I think he said it had 500+ stops. In our area that is a lot of stops according to him. The route is suspose to be a 4.5hr route (well their paper says 5.5hr) to deliver. He does it in about 3. I kept that walking pace up but by the end of the day my feet were littered with blisters. You are suspose to have 3 days of OJI training. Everything seemed ok. I asked what time to report the next day and it was different than the previous day. I thought oh well, maybe I'm not in the system yet. So I come in and we do the same thing except he'd give me mail to help deliver. I was about 5 ft behind him on this day but things still finished in due time. I thought things were going good and such.
Come Saturday they told me that I wasn't going to get my 3rd day of training and that I'd have to do the entire route myself. I figured ok so I'd try it. I went in at 9:30. I was suspose to be there at 6:30 but that is the great communication that the USPS has with it's workers. They didn't care and I just went ahead and loaded my truck, did everything I was suspose to do, and went on about my job. While doing so they preach that you should be back in the office by 5 p.m. So around 2:30 I called and said there's no way I'd be done, I had like half the truck still full so they sent some people over to help. These "people" which were other USPS mail carriers told my supervisor that I had no sense of ugency. Well that wasn't a big surprise to me. I was tire, my feet were killing me, and I didn't have a real clue what I was doing. So after Saturday I got out of there at 6 p.m, and no one got their packages that day
or their certified mail and some didn't get mail at all.Yesterday was my final and last attempt at this after seeing how this place is ran. They told me to report at 6:30 a.m. So I came in at 6:30. My supervisor wasn't there yet so I had no idea what to do. Someone came over and had me help with delivering mail to the stations and sorting it. I explained to them that I had no training but it didn't matter. I did this until 11 a.m when I was informed that I'd be delivering 1/3 of a route (was more like half) of the one I was doing. I figured ok, it's pouring rain, my 4th day, and I should be able to do this in 2hrs, but since I'm new figure 4hrs. I went to go eat lunch and came back. They had given me express stuff to deliver which is right away. So I wait around, get my keys and load the truck. I leave at close to 1 p.m. I get the packages out and start delivering mail. I tried calling 2 different cell phones and 2 different office numbers to tell them that I wasn't going to be done by 5 p.m since that is when they want everyone back in there. So 5 p.m comes around and I still have like 6 blocks of mail to deliver. I got 4 of them done and just said screw it. I drove back, dropped everything off, put mail in bins which I think was right, and left. The one time that I got someone on the phone I was told that I had to "pick the pace up" and keep going. But it's a double standard. They want you to pick the pace up BUT do it safely. How safe can power walking with mail in each hand in the pouring rain be? Oh yeah I was written up for not using a turn signal OR my shoulder belt (though they tell you that you don't have to use the shoulder belt). I was like whatever. Time left, 6:15 p.m.
Needless to say I got home and basicly broke down. I tried so hard to stay with the job but with the case of being slow, being told that as a Casual employee you can be fired at any time, being told you're slow again, being told again and again about being fired for any reason, not being able to get a hold of anyone, not knowing who your supervisor is after asking 10 times, not given the 3rd day of training (not like it would have helped), given unrealistic time tables to finish things, being told if I fall or get hurt that I am not covered by anything by various full time carriers I figured it was time to call it quits. I basicly wanted to beat or hit something but knew as a federal job that wouldn't be a smart idea.
So my supervisor (who I think) calls me this morning at 9:30 asking why I'm not there. I go on to explain to him that I didn't think it was working out and he said "yeah I figured that". I really had no words at that point as that anger had sat in again. He goes to tell me that I better not use him or the USPS as a refrence because he'll give a accurate refrence of my inablity to call at 6:30 to tell him that I wasn't going to be in. I told him for one I didn't know what time I was suspose to be in because of the fact that I don't get a schedule, it's just day to day as needed but that didn't matter. He just got very argumentive with me about not using him or the company as a refrence. I told him that I wouldn't think about it and didn't plan on having any refrences with the USPS. Right after that coversation I knew that this wasn't and isn't the place for me.
So now I gotta go down and fill out some fourm saying that I quit. I also have to turn in my recepts for the hotel and mileage since they don't have their poop together. I'm dreading it though because if the others that I have to deal with act like this supervisor I dunno how I'll hold it all together. It feels very.....in the attack dealing with these people. I dunno if this office is just like this or the entire USPS deal but I dunno. I thought that maybe it would be a good step to get my foot into a door but they basicly pay you a lot ($18/hr) but work you 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, with only Sunday's off. As a casual you get no rotating other days off, no benifits, no sick leave, no nothing. They make it sound to you that if you call in sick you can be fired, if you get written up for something you did while delivering mail (like stick it in the wrong box) you can get fired, if you piss wrong in the toliet you can get fired. I can't stand that type of attitude. No wonder so many people get work with the USPS and then quit. Atleast in the carrier position.
The funny thing is about all this is that I took all the tests, interviews, finger prints, background checks to be a "carreer" employee. That just means that they work you the same but you get benifits and you are backed by a union. I got stuck with this "casual" job because there were no openings for a "carreer" job.
I'm just venting my frustrations. It sucks to spend basicly a month-6 weeks trying to benifit yourself and your living conditions to have it all come down to this. I know that making $18/hr with no experence is like a godsend but it's not worth it. I'd rather make $10-12 and hour and have a life, normal working hours, and best of all semi-normal workers around me. For $18 it's like slave labor.
Rant over
