Postal Service Offers Yard Grooming Tips
Witt was expecting a package from the U.S. Postal Service, but he got an added bonus — helpful lawn care advice:
I had a package shipped to my house via USPS. According to their Track and Confirm system it was due to come in today. There was a note in the mailbox telling me that there was a package and if I wanted to come get it or have it redelivered. I called the post office and was told the mail carrier was going to be back from his route in less than an hour, bringing the package back. I had to take my son to an appointment, so I told the post office manager I would pick it up in an hour or so.
I got there and they found my package with no problem, but there was a note written on it next to my address label that said,"7-23 grass needs to be cut." I asked to speak to the manager. I asked him if it's the post office's business how neat my yard needs to be. He said,"No sir, it's rained for the last few days, of course your yard needs mowing, everyone's does. I'll talk to him later about it." My mower is in the shop waiting on a belt for the last two weeks. We've had a dry spell for a few weeks. The letter carrier had no problem putting a package on my porch last week, but today he had trouble.
I filed a complaint on usps.com, because I have a few more packages coming in and I don't want to have to drive to the post office to get them, since I paid to have them delivered to my home.
I asked them in my letter if neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, but they can't walk through 40 feet of ankle high grass.
Admittedly grass can be pretty tough to navigate. Maybe in lieu of a holiday Starbucks gift card for the mailman, Witt can spring for some soccer cleats.
(Photo: stirwise)
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Comments:
Well, the postman always seems to wear shorts in my neighborhood. With all the rain lately there's been a lot more mosquitoes and ticks than past years. I guess the question is just how high was the grass. If it was knee high I can maybe see a person being hesitant.
Maybe the mail carrier should use the walkway/driveway instead of tranpling this guys grass, especially if he doesn't like the length of the grass.
I've delivered magazines in the past, and there is far to much information missing from this story.
First off, the mail gets delivered 6 times a day, but your regular guy only works 5. Chances are good your delivery from the day before was made from a different employee. Passing judgement on your yard because "it was fine yesterday" is stupid.
Secondly, is this a neighborhood of cookie cutter houses? Are the mail boxes on the porch, or the street? Postal workers walk yard to yard because it cuts down on time and distance. Walking up and down every driveway would more than triple the distance they need to cover. Even if the postal worker drove up to the driveway, if he can't see a clear path to the door because that walkway is hidden behind a wall of grass, he is not wasting his time.
High grass is a huge safety concern. If the postal guy can't see the dirt under the blades, he can't trust it. Everything from concealed hoses, sprinklers, toys, rodents, snakes, insects. And if something did happen its the homeowner who gets sued. This article truely needed picture evidence.
I would take the note as an act of good faith, postal workers do have the ability to pass on yards of concern to the proper government department, resulting in someone coming out and mowing your yard for you, and billing you out the ass.
Sounds to me like the complainer here has a problem with someone pointed out their neglect to their own property.
Not that I'm placing blame or anything.
@Scatter: Depending on how high it is, some cities have bylaws against grass being over a certain height if it's visible from the street. Though I question the undeliverability through ankle high grass.
Mind you, where I live, you have to have a clear path to the mailbox, and that ussually means a concrete walkway since the mail delivery people aren't allowed to walk on the grass, or cut across lawns.
I'm a postal worker so can maybe help explain this... as the previous poster says, it has almost everything to do with safety and time management. Carriers are paid based upon their "count," which is done by management follow the carrier during the lightest mail load seasons of the year, measuring distances walked/driven, time spent, and pieces delivered. All the numbers get computed to determine what they will be paid to deliver that route in the future, as well as the time they are allowed to do it.
If the carrier deems it unsafe to follow the established route he has the right to skip that stop, which is in most cases the reasonable thing to do because by deviating from the recorded route is in itself grounds for dismissal. Management and the Postal Inspectors routinely check on carriers to make sure they are were they are supposed to be at any given time, failure to be there is a bad thing.
To make sure you get your mail when you want it, it is your responsibility to ensure the path to your mailbox is clear of obstructions and safe to approach and exit from. We aren't even allowed to put our vehicles into reverse under normal circumstances, so if we can't pull straight in and away we keep driving (in most cases.)
If it's a rural route and we don't have mail to deliver we are not required to stop even if your flag is up on the box.
The postal worker could have been trying to protect the homeowner. Uncut grass could have been viewed as a sign that the homeowner had not been home for several days. If the worker who left the note was not the same person as the previous day, this could have raised suspicion that the homeowner might be away from the house for an extended period of time. If the carrier decided that it was unsafe to leave the package outside, the next best option is to hold it at the Post Office.
Not saying this is what happened, but I think it's tough to infer malice from a note that short.
This sounds like so many USPS employees I have encountered. They barely work compared to the rest of us and remain unaware their "company" is on the brink of financial ruin partly because of the poor service they themselves give to customers.
My carrier (who is the same every day) tell me on Saturday she can deliver her run in only a couple hours. However, she is not allowed to "punch out" until a set time so she reads magazines in her truck until official quitting time. Sounds like the USPS is another GM to me and is doomed to collapse.
Seriously? grass is causing a postal employee this much stress?
My father walked his route for umpteen odd years. One day, in fact, he walked his 8 mile route with a broken ankle. he just tied his hi-tops tight. After being forced (by me) to go to the ER, he ended up with two rods and smattering of screws in his ankle. Luckily he tied his hi-tops good enough that his 8mile trek didn't damage the area further.
but he delivered the damn mail, by golly.
Up here in blizzard country, we get similar notes if the mailbox isn't clear of snow 2 feet back and 10 feet on either side, most often right after the village plows drive by. Maddening.
Most houses (mine included) have steps and/or walkways to get to the front door. In my case, there are steps...that lead to some more steps...to a front porch...where you can reach the door. I keep that path clear 24/7 x 365. Sometimes in the winter it feels like my primary purpose in life is to keep that walkway clear and safe.
I would be very colorful if the carrier couldn't figure out the steps and/or walkway concept that most homes have.
Next thing you know, the USPS will want to cut-off Saturday delivery. Oops, that's probably still a raw one...I probably shouldn't joke about that yet... ;-)
What I really want to know is why the OP quotes the motto for the Courier Service of the ancient Persian Empire in the letter. I'm not sure how that's relevant to our modern United States Post Office.
No wonder my father-in-law hates civilians. After pulling 20 years in the Air Force he retired and became a mail man in Delaware. Slightly over-grown grass would not keep him from dropping a package on a porch. If you've survived the Gulf War, a suburban yard in bad shape is no big deal.
Seriously, this mail man needs to get some balls and quit whining! My father-in-law is more worried about his job being in existence 6 months from now than having to tramp through some high grass.
@msquier: By the way; I live in a rural area and don't even have a walkway to the road so my mail lady stops her jeep in my driveway and sprints OVER my grass to leave packages on my porch.
We had a mailman who refused to deliver mail to my house because of my beware of dog sign. You can't see the sign unless my main door is shut. (Dog on the inside at all times, never out without an adult and a leash). On the former carrier's request, I keep the door closed for about an hour before and after their delivery time to make them feel more comfortable. The one who replaced her just refused to deliver at all. The mailbox is at the sidewalk, at least 20 ft from the house! I'll make reasonable accomodations to help anyone I can, but can't abide stupid excuses cause you don't want to do your job.
Yea I got one of these stupid notes too because my trashcan was set NEXT TO (NOT IN FRONT) of my mailbox, something about postal regulations require a clear way for curbside mail delivery, I think it's utter b.s.
Hahaha, our mailman doesn't get out of his truck unless there's something too big for the box at the end of the driveway. I mean, the regular dude is a nice guy and all, not slamming him...it's just that our area is designed for truck-riding delivery. And we consider that a HUGE step up from the end-of-the-community-road multibox we had in Vegas.
We like to joke that we'll never have to trim back the lantanas on either side of the mailbox because when they grow into the road, the mail truck runs 'em over for us. Free trimming by USPS.
@katia802: Does the sign say "Beware of dog who is kept inside at all times except when on a leash!"? Or does it say "Beware of dog!", like someone would put up if they keep their dog outside to discourage people from coming into the yard?
Not rain, nor sleet, nor snow, will stop the mail from...WOAH! High grass! Run!
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): No worries about the grass; I'm not a lawn person to begin with. That woman is FAST though! By the time I hear the doorbell ring, she's in her Jeep :)
I wonder if it was perhaps a regular mail carrier who perhaps had not seen their grass that high and thus worried that they may be out of town?
@normalizer: "Not required to stop even if your flag is up on the box"
Here ends today's lesson in "only the government could get away with running an operation like this..."
It's also possible that the carrier was covering for themselves. In one high profile company I'm familiar with, if a tech reports a resident not home, it is always documented with a detail about the house that isn't easily known/guessed. "Yes, the technician was there, he noted that your lawn hasn't been cut in a few days" is much more convincing than "yes, the technician was there".
Personally, someone telling me my lawn hasn't been cut in a few months is not news, nor offensive.
Good luck talking to that route person. My friend installed a locking USPS approved mailbox because of mail theft. Her delivery person insisted that it was unacceptable, and refused to deliver there ever again, despite repeated talks with a supervisor. The delivery person just wouldn't accept it, and in the end, the PO's solution was to give her a free PO Box.
I agree w/ matthew_k.
That said, I'm in South Dakota and the mail doesn't run here some days in the winter, on account of cold and snow. So their slogan isn't applicable everywhere, apparently. LOL!
Nothing to do with this story, other than the last part, but thought I'd throw that in there. LOL!
@henrygates: In 10 feet of snow, and there must have been a molasses truck overturned at the top of the hill....
seriously though, that was the blackest ankle I've ever seen on a white man. I had to yank the boot off at the end of the day. hence the "encouragement" to get him to the ER.
@bcsus83: It is NOT the Postal Service's slogan. It's just an ancient Greek saying that was put on a Postal facility in New York. USPS doesn't actually have a slogan or motto.
@gtsports: really? then the government must be running UPS lately as well. 3 calls to the distribution center & i still don't have an answer as to why a package i was supposed to receive monday morning is still tagged as "out for delivery".
@clickertrainer: That doesn't really seem like a fair solution either. Now your friend has to use her time, and possibly her car (gas, wear and tear, etc) to collect the mail that she should be entitled to receive, at no additional charge, at her home.
I used to be a carrier when I was 21 and found that when you "run your route" and finish it within a few hours, you're rewarded with additional hours of mail to carry. What's the incentive to be a fast worker?
I used to finish my route by noon and hide until "clocking-out" time not because I was lazy but because the regular carriers, whose routes I filled in for and finished in two hours, took four hours to do their jobs and would bitch and moan because they risked having more stops put on their route.
I think there were maybe only 10% of us who'd run our routes. The other 90% milked the clock.
@gtsports:
Rural Route.
RR carriers are not regulated the same as standard route carriers. Learned that nice fact when I moved out into the country back in 1972. Something you live with for the privilage of living in God's Country.
@Daniel Beahn: Point taken, however, the USPS themselves, in a television advertisement, used the quote slightly modified to describe their level of service.
Given that, I think comparisons are fair game.
From Wikipedia:
"In 2001, the USPS created a television commercial edited to Carly Simon's song, "Let the River Run." The commercial, which ran after the September 11, 2001, attacks and the anthrax mailings, featured no voiceover, only the following text interspersed on title cards:
We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever."
The USPS has many fine folk's. Unfortunately they have more that their share of bum's as well. I have some real pips coming to my house. They leave packages out at the street laying next to my box instead of putting on my 2 front porches. They are allowed to be useless, lazy half wit's. From my experience the supervisors may be bigger half wits that the carriers.
The USPS may be the worst run outfit of any. What they need is to bring in someone with some Logistics experience. They should be a force, yet somehow lose big money..Why is Fed Ex and UPS so efficient and these morons continue to lose OUR money?
Just sounds like a lazy-@ss mail man to me.