Clinical and Experimental Psychology

What’s going on at the Post Office?

Natasha Skinner^{* *}Correspondence: Natasha Skinner, School of Education, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, Email:

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Introduction

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an organization that is central to the lives of Americans. They depend on the post office to provide them with a plethora of significant services each day. Because of the vital part that the post office plays in the everyday lives of Americans, postal workers at times encounter critical remarks from customers. An example of this is expressed in an interview, according to Gail, who is a City Carrier with twenty-four years of service at Somerset Post Office in Somerset, New Jersey (personal communication, November 26, 2022). Gail said that customers say that postal workers are awful. To further investigate these types of remarks Shemiah, a Window Clerk with twenty-four years of service at the same post office was interviewed, and she stated that customers enter the post office saying that those who work at the post office are ridiculous. Some customers also stated that they are the ones who pay for postal employees to ascertain facets given to residents levied from paying federal and state taxes. Shemiah says that she rebuts these accusations and replies by saying that they are untrue since postal employees do pay both federal and state taxes.Perhaps customers make these commentaries because they are unaware of the enormous responsibilities that are placed upon postal workers every day in the services provided through various job titles. These remarks from customers underscore the importance of postal services in the daily lives of every American and the frustrations that ensue when these services are compromised in any way, Yes, the post office is responsible for delivering millions of mail parcels locally and worldwide, so when customers have these negative comments it is because in those millions of mail parcels we find monthly bills, magazines, paychecks, income tax refunds, medications, gift items, household supplies, correspondences to and from loved ones and other types of parcels that customers need to know are delivered in a timely fashion because they put their trust and faith in postal workers. They believe that when they engage in customer service with postal workers, they are given the customer service that is promised to them [1].

What is a post office, mail carrier, and window clerk?

There are a number of other occupations at the Post Office, but mail carriers and window clerks are postal occupations that interact with the public. First, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a post office is a government department or agency that deals with the transport of mail pieces (Post Office, Merriam-Webster, Inc 2022). Second, Wikipedia defines City carrier or mail carrier as an employee of a Post Office who delivers and collects mail pieces from residences and businesses on foot or by vehicle via various road and weather settings (Mail carrier, Wikipedia, 2022). Unlike the other postal positions, when researching the role of a window clerk, it is challenging to find a precise or complete list of this position’s duties. The only source for the complete and accurate list of duties for this position is a primary source. According to Patricia Elder, a supervisor at Somerset Post Office in Somerset, New Jersey with thirty-eight years of postal service as a clerk, window clerk, and a supervisor, a window clerk must know how to weigh and send out (letters, flats & parcels), know all classifications of mail (express, first, priority, register, certified), and know how to process bulk mail, business mail, and change of address. In addition, a window clerk should also know how to separate and dispatch mail, process and send out passports, and have the ability to give suggestions and send out mail, and know the difference between express, priority, certified and registrar mail types [2].

What does the term “Going postal”mean?

The term “going postal” originates from several incidents that occurred starting from 1986 and onward. These incidents involved United States Postal Service employees who shot and killed other postal workers, including the public and law enforcement officers in a mass murder (Going postal, Wikipedia, 2022). Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “going postal” as a postal employee who behaves in a violent and angry manner because of work-related stress (Go postal, Merriam-Webster, Inc 2022). Also, the term “going postal” is a stereotype that doesn’t accurately describe the behaviors of postal workers in a postal environment. The inaccuracy of this stereotype expresses the fact that sometimes people create stereotypes to describe situations that they do not understand [3-4].

Discussion and Conclusion

When asked how to address customers’ views of postal employees, window clerk, Shemiah said to ignore them and to continue to provide customer service by just aiding customers with any postal inquiries and services they require. At Somerset Post Office in Somerset, New Jersey going postal expresses a work environment endowed with a variety of personalities from window clerk, mail carrier, and supervisors with postal services years ranging from ten years to thirty-eight years, gifted with a mixture of postal crafts and duties, from diverse backgrounds and linguistics postal or otherwise. These postal workers are storm troopers working from three in the morning until six-thirty in the evening. During this time, workers provide the best customer service as postal as possible.

References

1. Mail Carrier.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation”, 4 Nov. 2022,
2. “Post Office.” Post Office, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2022 Accessed 27 Nov. 2022“
3. Going postal.” Wikipedia Foundation”, 4 Dec”.
4.  2022 Go postal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster”.