A Rural Mail Carrier
A big change came into my work in 1962. I applied for and
was granted a transfer from the Railway Mail Service, to being a rural
carrier out of Pomona. I carried route one, which was mostly north of Pomona.
I really enjoyed the job. I met the public much more than I did in the
Railway Mail Service. I went to work at 7:00am, put up the mail or cased
it, and was ready to go out on the route by 9:00am. The route, to begin
with, was 62 miles long. I was always home by noon. Later on the route
was extended to about 100 miles. I got back to the post office about 2:00pm.
I always tried to govern my speed so that I would be at each box about
the same time each day, regardless of the weather. Naturally some days,
that was impossible. Some days I sorta poked along, while other days I
had to hurry all the time. I enjoyed seeing the children who came out to
meet the mailman. Unusual things would happen. One time at Christmas time,
I pulled up to a box, a package I had hung on the box the day before, was
still there. An elderly lady lived there by herself. I was suspicious something
might be wrong. I took all her mail in. She came to the door after I knocked.
I knew right away something was wrong. She was confused and kept pointing
to the telephone. The dial tone was okay. I was sure she wanted me to call
someone but had no idea who. I assured her I would get some help for her
when I left. I told her close neighbor, Lloyd Robbins Sr., of her condition.
She was in the hospital before the day was over.
Another time I stopped at a box where another lady was
living by herself. I heard someone call. I found this lady down and she
couldn’t get up. She told me she had been lying there all night. She had
crossed the road to shut off the windmill. I helped her into the house
and told her I would notify her daughter who lived a short distance away.
She wasn’t home, so I told a neighbor of her condition. She also ended
up in the hospital.
An amusing experience one time, when I pulled up to a
box that was a turn-around. The box was located by the driveway. As I pulled
into the driveway, I noticed the kids out in the front yard near the road.
As I stopped, the mother was streaking across the yard to where the kids
were. Naturally, I wondered what was amiss. It turned out, one of the girls
never had a stitch of clothes on. They were always fully clothed after
that.
I retired from the post office department on the last
day of June 1973. I wanted to work about four more years, but I had become
a diabetic, and it really became a drag. My co-workers gave me a retirement
party at the post office after getting in from my last day of delivering
the mail in a way, I was sad and I had mixed feelings. They gave me a fishing
rod, which I still use. It is a good one. I appreciated their little party.