Small Victories

I had a small victory today.  A customer on my route had been bugging me, my sub, and our postmaster about moving her mailbox.  Normally I try to work with requests like that, but this time the place where Ms. X wanted to move her box was actually on another route, from another office, in another town.  Seriously.  She lives on a corner. The road in front of her house is served by Gville (and myself), while the road where her driveway is located is served by another town with another zipcode.  I have been repeatedly trying to explain to her that I can't just go into another town's territory, on another carrier's route and serve her box.  The only solution would be to move the box and put in a change of address to the other town.  It would mean a new number, street and zip code, but there is no other way around that. 

Well, Ms. X was not satisfied with my answer.  She has harrassed my postmaster over and over again, citing that her husband was disabled and could not cross the road to get the mail.  Which doesn't really explain why she or her 2 able-bodied teenagers were incapable of retrieving said mail.
But honestly?  I am only bitter because she drove all of us crazy.  I really do try to accomodate requests whenever possible, and IF I had the power to authorize my own delivery in another territory, I really would have, just to shut this woman up.  It wouldn't be that hard to zip around the corner and put her crap in her stupid box in her freaking driveway.  The problem is that I could get into a LOT of trouble doing that, and even potentially lose my job.  And Ms. X ain't worth that. 

So today, after not listening and going to the trouble to have her husband's Dr. write a lengthy "hardship case" explaining that really and truly Mr. X was not physically able to walk across the road to his mailbox (again, no idea why the Mrs or 2 teenagers can't) both postmasters from both towns took it upon themselves to go out and check out the situation in person.  2 postmasters pointed out in detail that I can't cross the delivery line to deliver to a mailbox in her driveway.  She has 3 options:  Keep her box, and address as is and get the mail herself, move the box and put in a change of address to the new zipcode.....get a post office box and go pick up the mail at the office.  Needless to say, none of those were satisfactory.  Oh well.  Too bad Ms. X.  I don't really feel sorry for you.  I do, however, feel most badly for your husband.  He not only has some undetermined physical disability, but he also has to live with someone as unreasonable as you.  Oh, and while I am on the subject, let me say this....while I fully understand that sometimes physical disabilities aren't immediately visible, and I can't say for certain that this man is not disabled, or sick or suffering....the one thing that I DO know is that several weeks back I had a trunk load of parcels for this family.  And HE came out and helped me unload the car....walked right out and moved heavy-ish boxes from my trunk to his porch and didn't seem on the verge of death from the effort.  Just sayin'......He seemed perfectly nice, too, by the way. 

Anyway, I have my orders....if the box is moved, I am NOT to deliver anything to it.  Mail will be held at the office until a change of address is filed, and then you can be the other town's problem child. The sad thing....I actually liked the people who lived there before.  But they recently moved away and instead I got a headache.  I mean, seriously?  How many times and in how many different ways can it be explained that we do not serve the street of her driveway?  I get annoyed with people who want special treatment, to have the rules bent just for them. I have no idea why anyone would be behave like that.  I still don't know why she wasted so much time and effort instead of just walking to the mailbox herself.  Oh well....now watch, just when she is good and pissed off, I will end up having a bunch of stuff requiring signatures that I will have to go to her door for.  LOL.  It never fails.