Heres a memory from the Good Old/Bad Old Days for women in the workforce of the US Post Office in the 1970s. The photo is of me at that point in time. Did you know...that I used to be a postal “letter carrier”? I thought I’d love it and finally got through the written test and the driving test and got my new improved driving license so I could drive big vans too and then got a placement in my fave area...Broad Ripple in Indianapolis. Weee! I was in heaven....until the actual job started! I was 21and started the same day as a young guy my age. The supervisor took us aside on the first morning and said gently to the boy, “As it is your first day, just take half of the route.” Then he turned to me and said (not so gently), “You will deliver your full route plus his other half. And if you can’t do it, there’s no room for women in the Post Office.” Welp, it only went down hill from there. Not a pleasant experience. We carried 40 pounds on walking routes of 14 miles. There were 100 men and 2 women in that post office back in 1971. Most had begun drinking by 6:00 AM. There were fights most day over things like whether the window should be up or down. The other girl was assaulted under a stair case. My life was threatened when I was ordered not to return to the office directly after finishing up my route. You see, the guys wanted overtime so, even though they were done delivering mail by 11:00 AM or Midday, they would sit in the pub until late afternoon before clocking off. On the other hand, I had a life and wanted to go home as soon as I could; so I would clock off and head north. Having been up since 4:00 AM, the only consolation for this nightmare job was having the afternoon free. The men said that if I could deliver an entire route in the allocated time that they would be expected to do so also, and that would eliminate their overtime pay. I threatened to write an exposé and was told that, if I did, I would be found “in a ditch somewhere”. I won’t go into the issue of dogs and my attack by a Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog........ The final straw came when we had heavy snow and every single postie was given help with their route except me. I was still sorting my mail in the office when everyone else was well on their way to finishing up for the day. I asked for help and it was declined, so I said, “I’m quitting.” The supervisor asked when and I said, “Right now” reaching for my time card. I walked out. I’d lasted 9 months and still had dreams for decades about returning to that existence. I’m sure it is better now and there are zillions of female posties so the treatment surely improved. I still think that, in theory, it’s a grand job...walking around in the fresh air with no boss breathing down your neck and chatting to your customers, etc. BUT..........not my cup of tea. Cheers, Jane PS: There isn’t a single photo of me in my uniform! Never was, never will be.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:39:13 +0000
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