As the holiday season approaches us, lights go up on every street mastering the balance of red, green, blue, and a warm white glow. The air becomes cooled and crisp while oddly maintaining a scent of eggnog with a dash of cinnamon. Sniffled noses band together to form a "Jingle Bell" melody unfazed by the possibility of a nearing cold. Smiles grin wider, children laugh louder, and hot chocolate tastes oh so good. The holiday fever is contagious to all, no matter how tough and small. Nonetheless, as with most things too good to be true, there comes a price. The airports run wild with families anxious to reunite. Parents struggle to maintain a grip on their sanity as they hunt for gifts that are perfect…and cheap. Yet, there is one group of individuals who suffer the holiday consequences most of all. That gift that just arrived this afternoon...do you remember who brought it? Santa only visits one night a year, so I’m betting it was the postman. Postal workers are the heart and soul of our holiday seasons. They are the ones working late shifts just to deliver your gifts to you. Not even the festivities could save them from their unbearable task. Though, you mustn’t only take my word for it. In an effort to open your eyes to the world of the USPS, I have interviewed one of our very own postal workers, Christopher Gonzalez – who also happens to be my father.
Christopher has been a U.S. postal worker for fifteen years in the city of New York. He has delivered by foot for the first ten years of his time as a postal worker and moved on to delivering by truck for these past five years. When asked about delivering by foot during the cold holiday months, he stated, “You have to get a good pair of gloves that allows you to still use your fingers for the mail. You have to get a scarf and wear layers like long johns. If not, you’ll be suffering. Sometimes you have to go inside a store or building hallway to try and warm up. On top of snow, it’s even worse.” The cold is kind to no one, so being surrounded by it for hours on top of hours, one could only imagine the strain in attempting to lift a package or sort through letters with rigid and frozen muscles. Christopher did admit that driving the truck assists with the unbearable weather, but the workload remains constant no matter the means of transportation. For both footmen and truck drivers alike, the labor is increased and accompanied by sacrifice during the holidays.
I know the holidays have officially begun when my father returns home and I’m already forty-five minutes into my 9 pm show. His eyes hang low with a gloss over them that beg to meet his eyelids once again. Confirming his long day at work that I had only suspected from the mere sight of him, Christopher describes the holiday rush as, “Longer hours…less time with my family. It’s more tiring. The post office becomes a monster. It just becomes somewhat overwhelming at times. Customers become more demanding because they are expecting packages to arrive before Christmas. If it’s not there when they expected it, they become more antsy. Everything kind of doubles.” Cold, tired, and agitated is the emotional trio of a postal worker.
Long hours are common to many jobs but my cheeks turned pale in shock when my father expressed the circumstances of long hours he deals with as a postal worker. He explained, “I have a co-worker who has worked a seventy-hour week. We all have to work at least four hours overtime every day.” It amazes me that they could work seventy hours in a week while fighting the exhaustion that must complain to them constantly. The realization that so many overtime hours were thrown onto the postal workers caused me to propose this question to my father: "Why are so many hours necessary? How many packages could possibly be delivered?" The answer I received was nothing short of an astonishment. After proclaiming that a so-called “normal” day at work would consist of about 120 packages plus other various tasks, Christopher went on to explain the drastic amount that was to be delivered on an average day during the holiday season. “Average, for myself, I would say about 180 with help. If I didn’t have help, it would be easily 300. The only reason we don’t have to do all 300 is that the post office has new employees, which have been there for less than a year, deliver all the Amazon packages.” Would you believe your postman if they told you that you were their 180th delivery? Me neither.
I have said this before and I shall say it again: The postal workers are the heart and soul of our holiday seasons. They work day and night, trudging through the snow with a holiday package just for you. Although I had just bared witness to the hardships of my own father, I dared to ask him a single question: "Is it worth it?" His answer states, “The only time it seems worth it is when you are working your overtime hours and you deliver a package to a customer who was so excited to get it that they give you a smile and a humble 'Thank you!' Thank you! It’s when you see their reaction to your work and they express their gratitude to you. It makes you appreciate your job for that moment and realize you are doing a good service. My job is important. At least for me.” As it turns out, Santa Claus doesn’t dress in a red suit and funny looking hat. In fact, he isn’t even a single person. Santa is the many men and women who dress in blue, proudly wearing the USPS symbol on their chest. This holiday season, take the time out to give your postal worker a sincere "thank you!"
