Indentured Servitude (aka City Carrier Assistant)
Pros
I learned a lot about how the mail is processed. Most days (minus Amazon parcel days) were physically challenging. Most customers were nice and understanding. There are supervisors every now and then who are genuine and nice, and they remember how it was when they were delivering.
Cons
Dear gods and goddesses in the structured universe, where do I begin? Almost everything mentioned in a previous review for the CCA (City Carrier Assistant) position is true. This was one of the most physically demanding, mentally stressful, unfulfilling jobs I have ever had in my lifetime. When I was in process of getting hired, their HR team tried to warn us. The job is not for everyone. "If you have a wife, girlfriend, family, or kids, say goodbye to them for the next 90 days." No joke. I don't know what in Satan's dark, sour urine convinced the unions to fight for a 6 day work week for all employees. I would rather have had a rotating shift every week (i.e. when I was an apprentice plumber, we worked five days on, two days off, so that everyone could get a chance to have a weekend off) than to have no idea when I was off next. Almost all my shifts started at 10 or 11am, so that if I had a heavy load, I wouldn't finish until anywhere from 8pm to 10pm. Sometimes later. Of the limited time I spent there (60 days), I got help from other CCAs and regular carriers a total of three times. I helped out other CCAs a lot more than that, mostly picking up pieces of other routes, delivering parcels or helping collect mail from other carriers who were too overloaded delivering. I don't mind helping people when I can, and I certainly understood if people had already worked too long and just wanted to go home instead of help me out. But I won't lie, those times that I didn't get help, I was a little bitter about it. You would think that all the CCAs and regulars would be on your side, wouldn't you? Well, that wasn't what happened with me. I'd get looked down on by fellow CCAs and regulars alike if I didn't finish the route like a seasoned professional. After the first few weeks, whenever someone said, "It should take x amount of time," I usually doubled that time in my head. I think part of the reason the attitude was different from person to person was because I worked at one of the largest and busiest stations in my area. There are bound to be cliques and other group mentalities forming in that kind of work environment. I also heard that there was a lot of disconnection between management and the union at my station. So much pressure to perform on time. "Hurry, but don't get hurt and don't get bitten by a dog." So much unrealistic expectation. I ate like crap as a CCA, even though I walked anywhere between 12 to 19 miles a day...because you don't really have time to take your breaks and lunches. 99% of the CCAs and regulars I knew had portable food, always. I can't begin to tell you how much liquid I drank through in a day. And it wasn't like I didn't try. When the union steward recommended I change my shoes and wear shorts, I did it. I took my breaks for the most part. I recorded all of my punches. I never talked back to any of the supervisors, or even any of the other CCAs with the bad attitudes. Then I was forced to do something I thought I would never do: urinate in a bottle in the privacy of the LLV. When you are running behind on your route(s) and you need to go...this became the norm. And it shouldn't have been. The job was just full of contradictions.
