Is the post office the right place for me to work?

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Hey all. I was officially diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome toward the end of high school at the turn of the century. I learned to shed my awkwardness and be outgoing and personable by spending a few years MUSHing, so I can pretty easily trick people into thinking I'm normal now.

But I'm not, of course, and the job I recently got feels like it has me playing against type. I became a rural carrier associate for the local post office, meaning that I spend the first half of a day sorting mail and the second half delivering it. I made the bad decision of joining during the Christmas season though, which is easily the worst time of the year to be a postal employee. You should see all the packages that come in, and I'm expected to stand on my feet for four straight hours and sort them while I slowly accumulate pain, then deliver all of them on my route when I've barely had time to wet my feet.

So I'm having second thoughts. Unfortunately though, since I have no money or anything, I have no opportunity. This job may actually be the best chance I ever get, despite the pain it causes me. It might be foolish and stupid for me to give it up. Plus, my parents have their hearts set on me being a postal employee because they want me to have a secure job with opportunity when they finally pass away.

Here's a letter I recently wrote to my folks, the head of my little clan that I'm stuck living with.

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Boy, remember when I used to write letters like this to you back in grade school? Those were the days, eh?

Seriously though, after only two days, things are dangerously precarious at the postal job, and I'm a little surprised that you two can't even fathom things being that way. You need to listen to me here.

The post office is a dying industry, having been overtaken and slowly made obsolete by email, FedEx, and UPS, and if they do eliminate Saturday deliveries, that'll just give another new business a chance to pop up and pound more nails into its coffin. Do you know how hard it is to build a career in a dying industry? That's a very backwards way to move one's life forward. I knew that when going into it, but I pursued the job anyway because I love you. I did this for you, not so much for myself. I know how much you worry about me having a secure future after you die, and I thought that, hey, maybe the post office would have me set for life. Sure, it's going through rough times now, but it can't be that bad, right?

I know the postal service seemed like a glamorous golden ticket when you were young, but that was 50 years ago, and it's only gotten worse since then, and since I've been learning about the modern post office for the past two weeks, I think I'm the most qualified to speak about it right now. When I share my suspicions about the post office job being a bum deal, I'm not whining. I'm basing that assertion on the knowledge and facts I've accumulated. Based on that knowledge, I think I can safely say that if this doesn't end with me being chewed up and spit out, I'll be surprised.

The United States postal service is now $15 billion in debt because it is and isn't a branch of the government at once, making things very awkward. Congress expects it to be answerable to them, yet also able to operate without tax dollars, to compete and turn a profit like a normal business even though it isn't a normal business. The post office stopped hiring career employees years ago and has been looking for ways to cut the benefits of the employees it already has, such as by forcing them into early retirement before they can amass too great of a retirement fund. The people at the post office are nice enough to work with, but they're also a little desperate. The government bankrupted and privatized social security and medicare, and it looks like the post office is next. For the post office I work at in particular, it's a little worse because they're out in the boonies and only get vehicles and supplies as hand-me-downs from other, more important post offices.

Thanks to the fiasco with the jeep not being ready, I'm only an inch away from being fired already. I found out the hard way that lacking a vehicle is a zero-tolerance policy. Not only that, but I'm actually expected to have two right-hand drive vehicles for when the first one breaks, which makes the job's entrance fee prohibitively high if you ask me. (No wonder they're short-handed.) The route I'm assigned to does not have an official Long Life Vehicle assigned to it, so I just plain won't have a vehicle to use when mine breaks, and if I have to tell my supervisor that, I just plain won't have a job anymore either. I claimed that detail was never explained to me, but my supervisor asserted that was impossible, so I guess what must have happened was, when asked if I had a backup vehicle during my first interview, I said yes out of naivety cause I figured I could bring along a normal passenger vehicle with an assistant like I've done with the newspaper routes so many times before. In retrospect, that was a dumb idea. Now I'm caught in a situation where I can't even send the jeep back to get a fuel gauge installed in it.

I will not actually have any free time for myself either. I am expected to be on call six days a week, and if I can't answer their summons, they'll just find someone else or decide to make do with the work force they already have. No, I can't say that I won't be available for certain dates in the future to get the jeep fixed or attend a convention with my brother Andy because I am a bottom-rung associate who does not accumulate any vacation time or sick leave. It's basically the same deal with the newspaper routes I've done, only harsher; that mail is sanctimonious and MUST get delivered regardless of what's going on in your personal life. If that sounds far-fetched to you, keep in mind that these are the same people who said that I should drive a normal left-sided vehicle from the right seat in the event my jeep breaks down. You know, because reaching over to work the pedals and steering wheel totally sounds congruent with the driving safety lessons I was given.

Those two factors are bad, but if they don't turn out to be deal breakers, then what probably will be is my slow motor skills. Don't balk at the idea either and say that I can do anything I set my mind to; I actually find that a little short-sighted and maybe even kind of rude and inconsiderate. Please, at least show some temperance instead of insisting that my only hope for a future lies with the post office. Dad, you in particular have been keen on getting me to research Asperger's Syndrome to help myself, so you might want to know that Temple Grandin's research says I'm entering the wrong field right now.

I'm really not that different from how she describes herself here: "Both high and low functioning people have very poor short-term working memory, but they often have a better long-term memory than most normal people. I have great difficulty with tasks that put high demands on short-term working memory. I cannot handle multiple tasks at the same time." That's from a paper called "Choosing the Right Job for People with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome" that she wrote in November of 1999. I read that paper and was like, "THAT'S ME!"

I am a square peg, just like you've been saying all these years. I have always been a slow, deliberate, calculating person. My hand writing speed is woefully moderate and I am easily overwhelmed by excess stimuli. The post office is a quick, frenzied environment with a LOT to keep track of. There's first class mail, periodicals, parcels, accountable mail that has to be signed for, many small forms that may need to be filled out in a single day, postage due mail, and more, all of which needs to be sorted and sent to the right addresses. That gives me the same kind of shock that I used to feel whenever I would work a cash register; there's just too much stuff happening too fast. I do have leeway as a new employee, but I'm going to steadily use that up, and I don't expect I'll ever be able to reach par.

That's not to say I'm not going to try anyway, though. Heck, I've come this far, so the idea I'm running off of right now is to see how long the job lasts and how much extra money I can actually make. I've made myself a couple of cheat sheets to help me sort the mail faster and I've been getting ideas for how to sort the mail my way so it's easier to deal with.

But what I need from you, Mom and Dad, is to anticipate and plan for this not being the career that sets me up for life. Of all the things I've been told to expect, opportunity is not one of them. I've been promised weeks of stress, paper cuts, a bad back, and carpel tunnel syndrome, not health insurance, vacation time, and benefits. About the only positive things they've said is that if I endure the former for a decade or so, then I might get the latter. "Might" because the post office has been actively trying to keep people from advancing, as I said before. It kinda has to since it can't afford to set people up for life anymore.

Remember: as soon as the jeep breaks down again, it's all over. That's how delicate this situation is. No one even makes rear brake pads for that old vehicle anymore. If only I had known that when we went to buy it, I would have been able to call this a bad idea before I got in over my head.

But being without a job may actually give me a lot more opportunity. If I were to get fired from the post office, I would:
- Be able to continue attending my writers' group instead of giving that up entirely.
- Look for ways to volunteer at the local library and food pantry. At the former, I'd offer up my novel in progress for free so it can get circulation and even write a smaller book first just to give me exposure sooner.
- Check the want ads every day for a day job that can provide me a bit of disposable income. No more graveyard shifts; they just leave me sleepless and unable to pursue my ambitions.
- Pursue the duck farm idea full stop. People with Asperger's are generally good around animals, and Temple Grandin even recommends veterinary medicine as a career.
- Get myself back into the Open Aire Market and sell not only my craft, but also myself. Whatever cash I earn from the post office could be great seed money there, and getting noticed could open up more opportunities.

I'd no doubt have to work hard at all these, but the difference between them and the post office is that I know I'd like them a lot more. Even from the outset, the post office job was never meant to be something I'm supposed to enjoy. Instead it was supposed to supplement my grander ambitions. I've come to enjoy caring for dogs, chickens, and ducks. The Open Aire Market gave me a taste of the kind of life I think I really want to live, even if crafting all those figures gets tiresome at times. If I don't industrialize myself, I should have a lot more fun with it.

This strategy for building a future also makes a lot more sense to me personally, given how the world has changed. It's been crumbling from debt and corrupt leadership, so the systems of old no longer work. You can't just plug yourself into a legacy industry like the post office and expect it to take care of you anymore. The future shall be given to the pioneers, the square pegs who dare to strike out on their own and do things differently and unexpectedly.

And honestly, Mom and Dad, I think this is really difficult for you to accept at times because not only do you come from an older era, but all of us have been safely barricaded from the present world's growing harshness thanks to Dad's disability income. While many people proceeded to lose everything, we managed to dodge that disaster thanks to a small brain tumor. This also means though that you may not actually know what it's like out there in the world today. You've read about what it's like, sure, but you've never actually experienced it because you're comfortably retired. It's people like me who have to face the new reality now and then report it back to you.

If you still doubt my testimony, trying sharing this letter with your friends. Heck, maybe I'll even finally get on one of those Asperger's forums and post this letter to solicit advice. At the very least, there's nothing like a precarious, stressful job to give you a kick in the pants so you start looking for other ways to move your life forward.
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A short while later, I got a response:

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First, talk to me about this, not mom. She was very upset last night and had trouble sleeping.

Let me point out where you contradict yourself. The entire economy has been doom and gloom for a while now. So the USPS is doom and gloom too, big deal. It will always exist and always have employees. In life we choose from what is available; ideal scenarios are rare or nonexistent. As the economy improves so will volume at the post office. You may fancy yourself a Post Office expert, but I have studied economics both at college and throughout my working career. I know better than a few lower level post office employees who b***h and moan. Most workers b***h and moan about how terrible everything is. Starting a new business (duck farm) is not an option. There is more paperwork and regulation than you imagine, not to mention the capital investment which is currently unavailable.

I'm glad you are determined to do you best at this. I understand that you have deficiencies. You also have assets. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But, what you are feeling is common to most people starting a new endeavor. Forget the negative thinking and just do your best. If the Jeep breaks down I'll drive you on your route. Once you decide that the job is going to work out, we'll get a backup vehicle.

Let's talk about this later today.

Love,
Dad
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Though I feel I am quite blessed to have parents like mine... well, you know how when you're a kid, you think your parents know everything, but then when you grow up, you realize that they have flaws like any human and may not actually have all the answers? That's how I feel about this response. It seems a typical Dad reply. He did spend his entire working life in the business world, but he also acts like this a lot, insisting that everything will be the same as it's always been. He tends to act like the people in the process of making history don't matter as much as the history they leave behind. You could make the point about how the planet is going to continue to exist no matter what happens, but that misses the point about how the people living on the planet are what actually matter. I think it actually is possible for an institution that's older than the United States itself to die off, and in fact it's doing an awfully good job at it right now. What's most likely to happen is that if the postal service finally gets Saturday deliveries eliminated like it's been trying to, some entrepreneur will take that as a business opportunity and birth a new post office system that will erase the old one. That is, the old one I'm working for now.

But what other jobs CAN I do? I'm a nobody living in Sequim, Washington. I didn't spend any significant amount of time in college, and now the world has changed so much that colleges seem like they mainly serve to put students in debt anyway. I think I'd enjoy a mechanical or animal-oriented job, but I have no opportunity to cultivate that ambition to the point where it can be a career, while all my other, more feasible, ambitions are artistic in nature. For example, my biggest dream involves publishing a novel called "Tales from the Creature Keeper" that I've completed a third of, enough that I could potentially release it as a trilogy of smaller books. But surely you can't make a living off of that, right?

What should I do? Everyone's upset with me and I honestly wish I had never taken this job now. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Both you and your father write very well. I say that coming from years of working in a field where writing well is'nt optional.

Most of your facts are not in dispute. The USPS is not doing too well these days, and has'nt been doing well in years. It's a 1980s machine in 2012. FedEx/UPS are good at what they do, large packages and high priority packages, full tracking capacity, to a pre-determined destination. USPS covers a far larger range of services, the most profitable of which are going bye-bye because of reliable e-mail and online bill payment services. If not for the legal requirements to use USPS for some things, USPS would be even worse off.

That said, the USPS is the only service that allows you to purchase the ability to ship a written letter anywhere in the United States, within a reasonable timeframe, and at a reasonably inexpensive cost. Judging from the uproar that closing a post office anywhere causes...I'd say congress will do what they always do, scream, moan, and fork over more money.

However, this is about you, and not the USPS. You're not even a full employee yet, and you said you expect to wait a decade to reach that status, and you're worried after 2 days.

My personal advice would be to stick there as long as you can, don't get too attached to it, but keep at it. Every day that you're employed is another day that you can account for on a resume, another day that shows up as regular income on a W-2 (for a future mortgage or employement check), and another day closer to finding something else. Sad as it is to say, I'm making an assumption that your USPS wages would qualify you for some sort of unemployement insurance benefit in Washington state, if that unfortunate event hapens.

Your father is right in most of what he says (maybe all of it, but you would know that better than I). Yes, you have backup plans in case the USPS job does'nt work out, but they should remain backup plans for the time being. If you need to use them, they are there.

Every day you're with USPS will make your workday a little easier. The first few days at a job like that are never fun, I know that all too well myself. Remember, as long as you show up (and I realize that's an issue), they have to make the affirmative decision to fire you, right?

I also suggest sticking it out. It is easiest to find another job if you are currently employed--if you aren't they wonder what is wrong with you and look for someone else to hire!

Thanks for the advice. I suppose one reason this has been freaking me out (aside from the obvious Christmas crunch) is because it carries echoes of the problems I had way back in grade school. I was never fast enough for my teachers. I was smart enough, sure, but my plodding, deliberate methods were part of a skill set that no one knew how to cultivate. Now that I'm an adult, I look back and I feel that spending twelve years in public school mainly served to set my life back by ten years. It's been hard to unlearn that kind of indoctrination.

I printed out a couple of cheat sheets to speed myself along, and I plan to get cozy in my case and just sort the mail, one type at a time, as quickly as I can manage. If it's not quick enough for my supervisor in the end, well, at least I won't be able to say I didn't try. And as I already detailed, I won't be lacking things to do if that happens, and I should at least have a couple thousand bucks to launch myself from.

Wow, I signed on here looking for some advice on how to better cope with my new job with the USPS and - low and behold - what do I find? Someone looking for an excuse to quit.

I felt the same way as you into my second or third week and even considered quitting... and then I remembered, I'm not a quitter.
I was frustrated with the lack of proper training and obvious resentment oozing from my supervisor over her having to train me... which she didn't, I only learned from careful observation and asking questions from other postal employees.

My source of anxiety is from waiting on the customers - I get nervous and actually shake if there is more than one person waiting in line. I need HELP from someone/anyone on how to OVERCOME this anxiety so I can better perform my job duties.

The office was filthy, disorganized and in chaos when I started. Now, after working there for 8 weeks, because of ME, it is clean and orderly. Customers notice and tell me how nice it smells and looks. I built book shelves and started a lending library in an empty area of the lobby.

I WILL make this job work and if it doesn't, it won't be because I didn't try.

My advice to the OP is to stop making excuses, listen to the advice from your wise father, focus on doing your job to the best of your ability, and don't concern yourself with where the USPS will be fifty years from now - you'll be retired by then.

From what I can see, the USPS took a hard hit from the internet. It has taken stock of itself and is now in the process of reorganizing. It is doing what any business must do if it wants to succeed in an ever-changing economic environment - it is learning to adapt and be flexible.

That is what I am learning to do also to succeed in life.

Now, if someone can direct me to some social/interaction/ training books or videos, I would be eternally grateful.


PS: I am over 50, not officially diagnosed, but definitely have suffered with Aspergers as far back as I can remember... though I didn't know there was a name for it until two years ago.
Everyone is weird in some way or another. All any of us can do is to identify our strengths and weaknesses and work with the hand we were delt.

The USPS may survive, but it's unlikely that anyone who is currently a TE, PSE, or whatever they are calling the non-permanent employees these days will ever achieve "regular" status. They are trying to get rid of the ones they have now.

The best way to view those jobs is a way to make money and develop a work history, in the hopes that you can find a permanent job somewhere else in the future.

I worked for them for nearly seven years, during the late 90s/early 00s.....I did make regular [due to a unique situation that will not happen again] but left a while back because I didn't like the job and also I knew it was highly unlikely that the USPS would stick around long enough for me to be able to retire when I hit retirement age in 2025, or at least, it would not be the same workplace to where it would be able to provide a secure retirement.

That being said, I think it can be a good job for someone on the spectrum, depending on what they're doing.

I can also say that the Christmas rush is just that, a temporary rush, it will be nowhere near as busy the rest of the time.

But I thankfully never had to deal with customers or anything like that...I don't envy those who do, window clerk was generally considered one of the tougher jobs in the USPS. I was a mail processor in a processing center.

Everyone here is giving you great advice - stick the job out for a while at least.

If you're anything like me, everything that's happening right now seems like it's a gigantic commitment, and you might be taking it all way too seriously. Do the job for a while... you'll learn a lot more than what you're expecting... you'll learn how to balance work into your lifestyle, how to deal with others, how to care less (or more) about your work, etc. You might even fail, which is devastating, but will also teach you a lot.

You're not marrying the job, a failure will not harm you, and even doing this for a couple years will not set you on a career path that you can't get out of. You can take your resume to another gig down the road and show them that you have work experience (which tells them that they won't have to break you in from scratch). A blank resume is scary to an employer.

Don't think too hard about where the USPS will be in a few years - it doesn't matter to you right now. You're thinking way too hard about this, and beneath it all are probably just scared (I've been there). And please realize that like anything else, after 2 days in the workforce, you know just about nothing.

Where do I start? I have worked for the Postal Service for 29 years and am one of the lucky
ones who will leave with a retirement. Those who are just starting to work for the USPS now,
I'm not so sure. The Postal Service has been slowly privatizing for years but is now on an
accelerated pace. The truck drivers appear to be next to go and perhaps custodians as well.
Many, many changes are planned in the next few months but a lot depends on the actions of
Congress. Management definitely wants to end Saturday delivery but Congress must sign on.

Most of the debt you hear about in the news was purposely inflicted upon the USPS by
the Republican lame duck Congress of 2006. The Democrats won back Congress in the
2006 elections but between November and when the new members took office in January
the Republicans passed and Bush signed legislation mandating that the Postal Service
pay 5.5 billion dollars a year to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. I personally don't
believe that the money is actually going into a fund but is being spent to fund other parts
of government much like what has happened to Social Security. The large amount of
debt you hear about is because the USPS has refused to pay that payment the past two
years. Remember the USPS is financed through the sale of postage and that money comes
out of that hampering the ability of the Postal Service to thrive which is just what the anti-
government types want.

Should you continue to work for the Postal Service? It is now definitely just a job, not so
much a career anymore. Christmas is always crazy and the mail volumes will drop soon
afterwards. The work is repetitive, same thing day after day, so gets much easier with time.
As an Aspie I like that as I function best with a set routine. Postal management is planning
big changes but not forthcoming with information so it is a crap shoot as to whose job is
going to get axed. Many managers are quite poor at their jobs. Many have a sense of
entitlement and will treat you quite disrespectfully. Attendance is very important to them
so if you show up on time every day and bite your tongue when treated like crap you will
be o.k. However they don't want you to have a life so good luck asking for an extra day
off. But it is a steady paycheck and as secure as any job now days. I have gutted it out
for 29 years and have a secure lifestyle with a house almost paid for so actually feel quite
fortunate as an Aspie.

Hope my comments have been helpful. Tried to show both good and bad points.Good
luck.