Postal Letter

Why are United States Postal Service counter clerks always old and angry?

It seems like no matter what city you're in postal clerks behind the counter are always mad, angry and upset. The workers who deliver the mail on foot or by trucks are usually cool but what gives with the clerks at the counter.

Public Comments

1. Because they can be. You and I go to the post office because we need to, not because we're just looking around. They don't need to make a sale, they just have to stand there and we're the ones that need their products. My solution is that I try to do as much online as I can. I only go to the post office once every 6 months. The reason is because they're such pain-in-the-backsides to deal with.
2. government employees. The system is terrible.
3. the work rules are harsh and the conditions are poor. Clerks stand on their feet most of the day and are responsible for any shortages in the drawer to the last penny. but the job pays so well that the clerks know they can't get a better deal anywhere else [it's unionized], so they feel stuck. with hurting feet, evil work rules, and feeling stuck, I'd probably be crabby much of the time as well. oh -- and then there's the customers -- some of them probably shouldn't be allowed out in public by their families.
4. Because the mail never stops! I once lost a package, called the post office, and was told to call one across the state where the packaged had last been tracked. So, I did. I explained to the woman over the phone what happened and she said with a HUGE attitude, "What am I supposed to do about it?" I was kind of shocked. No customer service agent in the private sector would be able to talk to a customer like that and get away with it. I let her have it. That's the difference. If you're not accountable, if you're not likely to get fired for poor performance, then you don't need to be nice. The people who get out into the public probably just have more job satisfaction because they're not cramped in a little office doing grunt work.
5. Look at the people they have to deal with....
6. When have you ever met a cheerful leftist moocher? Can't say that I have.
7. Union workers. What do you expect. Nothings ever good enough for them.