The Matchmaker Mailman
Well let me tell you, sometime it seems like I have letters coming out of my ears.
It was a tough summer last year. It rained everyday, remember those afternoon thunderstorms. My grass was like a foot tall. I would work all day get home to start cutting grass, and the sky would open up. It didn't help that my wife was having troubles at work. I had my run in with the neighbor. It was a bad summer.
I had alway been positive growing up, with a single Mom you had to took at the glass half full. I never thought I was poor, but looking back we were. Mom worried about money ati the time.
Back to the mail. I was very lucky to get hired by the Post Office almost ten years back. The PO has changed a lot in that time. Most of the country has as well. Email, 911, things change. Can't stop it, it always seems to come back around. But, right now the PO is at the mercy of the world.
In case you haven't noticed I have WADD(Writers Attention Defecit Disorder) I start to write about one subject then veer off. It has greatly affected my career as a novelist. Hard to get people to read six half finished manuscripts. Tough to finish those books with a wife who wants to go out to eat. A four year old who wants to go out and play. And a cat who wants to go out... So I deliver mail to pay the bills.
I like my job. People like me. I'm good at it. That last part is the one that makes my life ever changing. You see in the PO the faster you can work, the more work you get. The slower you work, the less work you get. It is a very odd place. I am still known as a "Runner" at my office. Now a "Runner" is a carrier who does his job fast, like it sounds. To my bosses I am Great. To my Union I am the reason we are going out of business. It is a funny place to know that I do a full days work, and the guy next to me takes a four hour lunch. And, I am the bad worker.
But i stiil haven't told you how I came up with this idea for this site(WADD).
Now the main job of a Mailman is to match the number on the letter to the same number on the mailbox. Hopefully you are on the right street, and in the right town. It is a simple job, but throw in one thousand or more pieces of mail. Rain, snow, sleet, dogs, and people. The mail is the easy part.
When you start out at the PO you deliver mail to different parts of town everyday. Eventually you get your own route which makes life much easier. You get to know people. Get to know what they read and who they are. Most of the people we never meet. You know them through thier mail. I know, I once had a woman named Hetga who I was sure was an old Eastern European woman. When I met the young blond ! was pleasentiy surprised.
So back to the top. Last Summer was a long, wet, time. SVSy head was everywhere but at work. I noticed my misdeliveries were very high. People were calling and complaining about getting the wrong mail. I admit it. I had a bad few months. But, it led to this idea. Silver lining, bolt of lightning or just bad mailman. Next month I continue the story behind Matchmakermailman.com.