On Sun, 25 May 2008 20:47:34 GMT, "Long Gone"
nospamforadam.net> wrote:

You hit the nail squarely on the head! While the USPS has it's
shortcomings and growing pains, many of the problems are caused by the
customers themselves who thru error or not knowing the 'logistics' and
idiosyncracies (love that term) of a particular route make this a
valid claim. I'm sure that nearly every route has it's share of
Smiths, Jones, and Does often living on the same street and sharing
the same first names. My route had scads of O'Brians, Foleys, Folans,
as well as the others. It's one hell of an ode to figure out where
it's supposed to go if there's a house number that does not exist.
Lot's of times I've had to second guess or look for clues that make
for a common denominator in order to get the damned letter in the
right hands. I wish I had a doyme for all the times I've rung door
bells asking my customer, "Is this by chance yours?" Of course, a
carrier could say, "F*** It" and let the dead letter branch worry
about it. But that IMHO is lousy and impersonal service. When a
carrier delivers a route for 20 or 30 years, no truer words could be
said where the majority of my customers became my extended family.
When I first bid on my own route years ago, I met up with an old New
England Yankee retired letter carrier who admonished me with these
words, "Now that you have your own mail route, MARRY IT!" It makes
sense being that it's an integral part of my 24 hour day - 8 hours of
sleep, 8 hours of fighting with the old lady and the kids, and 8 hours
of work. It makes for a much better day when you go to work and keep
the customer satisfied. There were fringe benefits - sometimes not to
be shared with or mentioned to the old lady. 8-)