RANT: Our Doofus Mail Carrier

[TheJadedDog]

Let me just tell you, I have lived in my apartment for 3 years, and we NEVER get mail on Wednesdays. Why you ask? Well, our building is set behind another one that has the SAME EXACT NUMBER on it. So on Wednesdays, when the substitute mail carrier is working the route, no mail for us. This year we have had a check for $10,000, a W2, and federal loan statement go missing. Not to mention the numerous bills and magazines we miss if they happen to be delivered on a Wednesday.

I am to the point where I am going to take a picture of the property, go to the mail station, and use a staple gun to attach it to the mail carrier's forehead.

As for your situation, sounds like you too have a lazy mail carrier who doesn't want to walk up to your house and is using the dog as an excuse.

 

[Joker]

He did mention that the carrier once had a dog break through a window and ended up hurting the carrier

Sorry still don't buy it. I have seen what happens to people that have fallen through a window. I doubt a dog that broke a window(if the dog was able to at all) would be in any shape to attack anything.

Not saying I don't believe you Evan, just seems to me this people are struggling to come up with an excuse.

 

[Evan!]

Sorry still don't buy it. I have seen what happens to people that have fallen through a window. I doubt a dog that broke a window(if the dog was able to at all) would be in any shape to attack anything.

Not saying I don't believe you Evan, just seems to me this people are struggling to come up with an excuse.

I agree with you---but I'm trying to be accommodating here, trying work with them, something that they obviously don't want to do. They want to dictate the terms and me follow them. Horse-hockey! Well, I'm going to work from home tomorrow, so I know where the dog will be all day---and if he fails to deliver again, I'm gonna get him fired, for real. I'll make a real stink...they don't want to f*ck with me any more.

 

[kornkob]

I do empathize with your situation and agree this has been handled poorly.

I have a 60 pound dog with a 4 inch scar on his chest that he got from bounding on a large picture window over the course of several months. It sounds very much the same as what you are describing. All I'm saying is that over time the window can be weakened. It sounds like you are arlready taking steps to mitigate the problem with the dog so I figure there's no cuase for worry.

However, to play devil's advocate: here's a dog that for a while didn't pounce on the window at the postman. Then the dog started pouncing. That's a significant change in behavior and someone witnessing a significant change in an animal's aggressive behavior might have reasonable cause to be concerned.

And odds are that window is flexing with the impact and looks like it could break at any moment. It's very possible that a 3rd party who watches the dog bound agaisnt the window might have good reason to worry.

I also want to say that taking a cute picture of my pet doesn't accurately represent how my dog looks when he is barking at an 'intruder'. He looks cute when he's in cute mode but not so much when he's barking at the UPS guy or a squirrel. Questions like 'who could be afraid of this' aren't useful in looking at the problem because that's NOT what is being seen.

It bears repeating: I think this guy handled the problem poorly. Based on yoru description you have good cause for being upset at how the problem was managed.

However, based on your description of the situation he may well have good reason have become concerned for his safety around your dog. That's not to say your dog is unsafe-- but the description you give, couple with a reasonable amount of empathy for someone faced with what you describe, suggests to me that there might be a logical reason for concern.

One other item: it is easy for people who are angry about something to assume that if they are right abotu one aspect of what they are angry about, that means they are right about everything. Be careful not to fall into that logical fallacy (there's a word for that type of fallacy but I do not recall what it is).

 

[Evan!]

I do empathize with your situation and agree this has been handled poorly.

I have a 60 pound dog with a 4 inch scar on his chest that he got from bounding on a large picture window over the course of several months. It sounds very much the same as what you are describing. All I'm saying is that over time the window can be weakened. It sounds like you are arlready taking steps to mitigate the problem with the dog so I figure there's no cuase for worry.

However, to play devil's advocate: here's a dog that for a while didn't pounce on the window at the postman. Then the dog started pouncing. That's a significant change in behavior and someone witnessing a significant change in an animal's aggressive behavior might have reasonable cause to be concerned.

And odds are that window is flexing with the impact and looks like it could break at any moment. It's very possible that a 3rd party who watches the dog bound agaisnt the window might have good reason to worry.

I also want to say that taking a cute picture of my pet doesn't accurately represent how my dog looks when he is barking at an 'intruder'. He looks cute when he's in cute mode but not so much when he's barking at the UPS guy or a squirrel. Questions like 'who could be afraid of this' aren't useful in looking at the problem because that's NOT what is being seen.

It bears repeating: I think this guy handled the problem poorly. Based on yoru description you have good cause for being upset at how the problem was managed.

However, based on your description of the situation he may well have good reason have become concerned for his safety around your dog. That's not to say your dog is unsafe-- but the description you give, couple with a reasonable amount of empathy for someone faced with what you describe, suggests to me that there might be a logical reason for concern.

One other item: it is easy for people who are angry about something to assume that if they are right abotu one aspect of what they are angry about, that means they are right about everything. Be careful not to fall into that logical fallacy (there's a word for that type of fallacy but I do not recall what it is).

I don't disagree with anything you're saying. The window thing has been a problem that we've been trying everything to fix...and now that the mailbox is nowhere near the window, there should be absolutely no cause for concern. Like I've said numerous times above, I don't want to put him or my dog in danger---which is why I've gone through these measures---and no matter how silly we all might think it is to be askeered of a dog on the other side of 2 panes of glass (one being storm glass), it's not necessarily my place to make that call. But yeah, they've handled it sh*ttily...

 

[uglygoat]

he won't get fired. mabye written up, or suspended, or put on a different route, but i doubt he gets canned.

train your dog better , or put the box on the street so they don't even have to get out of the truck.

 

[kornkob]

That ain't right either though. I miss having a mailbox on the house largely because I hate trapsing out to get the damn mail.

Haivng a curbside mailbox makes it easier for people to find my house (because the numbers of all the houses are out front in the same place) and is definatley easier for the mailman but is less conveinent for me because there's no easy way to grab my mail (liek reaching out the front door and fishing it out of the box).

 

[uglygoat]

i'm just being a ****head...

i used to live in an old house that had a set of concrete stairs you had to walk up from the sidewalk to the house. then the porch stairs and a mail slot on the house. one day there was a note that said we had to install a mailbox down on the sidewalk, cause the carrier didn't feel like they should walk up two sets of steps.

i ignored it, and they continued delivering.

 

[olllllo]

I'm with Kramer on this...

Postal Employee: "May I help you?"
Kramer: "Yeah, I'd like to cancel my mail."
Postal Employee: "Certainly. How long would you like us to hold it?"
Kramer: "Oh, no, no. I don't think you get me. I want out, permanently."
Newman: "I'll handle this, Violet. Why don't you take your three hour break?
Oh, calm down, everyone. No one's cancelling any mail."
Kramer: "Oh, yes, I am."
Newman: "What about your bills?"
Kramer: "The bank can pay 'em."
Newman: "The bank. What about your cards and letters?"
Kramer: "E-mail, telephones, fax machines. Fedex, telex, telegrams,
holograms."
Newman: "All right, it's true! Of course nobody needs mail. What do you
think, you're so clever for figuring that out? But you don't know the half of
what goes on here. So just walk away, Kramer. I beg of you."
Supervisor: "Is everything all right here, Postal Employee Newman?"
Newman: "Yes, sir, I believe everything is all squared away. Isn't it, Mr.
Kramer?"
Kramer: "Oh, yeah. As long as I stop getting mail!"

 

[zoebisch01]

My mailbox is susceptible to plow damage.

Anyways, I have seen dogs jump through really old one sheet glass and come out unscathed. But anything (save the bargain basement windows) put in oh say the past 20 to 30 years is some pretty tough stuff. It takes a lot, and your dog would most likely need cause for such alarm I'd imagine. Dogs can do some pretty wacky stuff, but usually this is because they get extremely excited. I suppose I could see the guy's pov, but I still don't think it's entirely realistic (i.e. he's being completely paranoid).

At any rate, the execution of his solution was completely unprofessional and there would need to be an explanation of as to why you weren't going to get your mail beforehand.

I think these guys would agree, don't you?

http://www.uspsoig.gov/about.htm

 

[Kevin Dean]

I'd have to agree with kevin here. Certainly the mail carrier didn't handle the situation well, but it's definitely understandable how someone in that line of work wouldn't want to put up with anything when it comes to dogs. That is, he may not have been justified, but it's understandable all the same.

For example, my mom is deathly afraid of dogs, even small harmless ones.

Um... I'm going to have to say your mom needs to grow a pair. Not being rude, but I don't consider personal phobias to be an acceptable reason to not do your job. Dealing with restrained dogs is a part of a mailman's job. People smoking is a part of a waitress's job if she works in a facility that allows smoking. These things are both known at hiring time.

The difference in this case, which makes me side with he non-delivery is that something was "unusual". Evan has a dog that is NORMALLY restrained (he has a mat that prevents the dog from jumping up to the window) and one day he was NOT. The situation changed and he had to make a judgement call. The furtherance of that is once the threat was removed normal operating should have resumed. Once the mailbox was moved away from the dog, everything should have been back to normal. The rest was unacceptable.

This isn't the same opinion as my Uncle---and he's a USPS bigwig who is the boss of dozens of postmasters. he says that without prior incident, there's no justification for it, and they are obligated to deliver my mail.

I'm not saying your uncle is wrong but I'm saying that "barrier = no delivery" is something that happens, and it has alway been explained to me as policy. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a disconnect between management and line-workers, or a difference between what makes sense and what's written in SOP.

I think if there's a reasonable risk the mailman should be able to avoid it until it is removed. If the risk is your/our fault, you/we should be informed and able to take action. The whole thing changes when the "informed" thing is tossed out the window.

 

[beala]

In response to everyone:

That is, he may not have been justified, but it's understandable all the same.

Read my post more closely before getting all high and mighty. I never said he should have done what he's done. I merely said it was understandable. There's a big difference.

 

[uglygoat]

heh... high and mighty. mostly drunk and stumbling around here...

 

[beala]

^ haha fair enough

 

[Fingers]

heh... high and mighty. mostly drunk and stumbling around here...

Well, I'M high and mighty....

No, wait......

SWMBO says drunk and stumbling. Never mind.

 

[landhoney]

I'm with Kramer on this...

That exchange is classic, Seinfeld at its best.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Maybe he was afraid that the dog would burst through the window breaking the glass.....But that doesn't even happen in movies.

A friend and co-worker of mine has a rather large, rather friendly golden retriever. A few years back, she did just that...jumped right through a plate glass window to "greet" the mailman. Mind you, the dog doesn't have a vicious bone in it's body, but I guess she still scared the snot out of the poor guy.

It took a lot of calls and letters to get them to resume delivery of mail.

 

[Dude]

FWIW, Evan, I got a brand new issue of BYO, AND the SI swimsuit issue in my mailbox today. You should come live here. Our mailman is awesome!!!!!!!

 

[iamjonsharp]

Your mailman needs to stop staying up late at night watching Cujo on cable.

This situation really sucks. Your mailman is totally lame-ass.

 

[chione]

I don't disagree with anything you're saying. The window thing has been a problem that we've been trying everything to fix...and now that the mailbox is nowhere near the window, there should be absolutely no cause for concern. Like I've said numerous times above, I don't want to put him or my dog in danger---which is why I've gone through these measures---and no matter how silly we all might think it is to be askeered of a dog on the other side of 2 panes of glass (one being storm glass), it's not necessarily my place to make that call. But yeah, they've handled it sh*ttily...

well did you get your mail?
-

 

[wihophead]

Sorry kind of off the topic but I have a small USPS rant.

I was sitting in my living room when I watched our mailman drive right past our mailbox that had the flag up with mail in it ready be picked up.

I called the post office to complain and they told me that they are not required to pick up mail if there isn't any mail to be delivered...what a crock of ****