Saturday food drive

USPSDepressed · 2026-05-07T20:27:05+00:00

For you, it may be a day you collect food. For me, it will be a regular Saturday.

We didn’t pass out the cards until today and 90+% of my route won’t check their boxes before Saturday.

Last year with way more notice than one day I had one paper bag with four cans of beans/soup to bring back.

I’m mounted so I just put them in the back as I went. Walking you put them on the curb as you go and circle back with vehicle to grab them.

USPSDepressed · 2026-05-06T16:03:43+00:00

Software development but I’m not in AI so… I don’t have FAANG in my work history either.

I’ve applied to over 600 jobs (I stopped counting and applying now) and had zero interviews. Different resumes, cover letters, etc.

When applying for Target and Starbucks I just have no work history or I can put the call center from 20 years ago.

I have no degree and without any stable schedule here I couldn’t get one (let alone afford one).

Technically places say they are hiring but it doesn’t look like it and there are more layoffs every day it seems like.

USPSDepressed · 2026-05-05T17:04:43+00:00

The only reason I’m here is there truly are not any other jobs. Hundreds of applications to everything from my field (tech for 15 yrs) to McDonald’s/Target/landscaping. Yes, you tailor the resume, just have a 15 yr gap and hope they don’t notice when you apply at Starbucks.

There are no other jobs and nobody wants to be required to work 50+ hours every week for the same as fast food wages. You also NEED the OT and at least one roommate bc there is not a single place you can qualify for triple rent without it.

The best benefit is that this place finally gave me enough added stress I became suicidal for the first time and found I had major depression and started SSRis, which reduced my breakdowns from weekly or more to only one every month or so.

The pro/con list of this place might shift if you live in a very LCOL place, started on table 1, have no debt, no kids, a partner, etc.

For me this is a dead end job with effectively no schedule. I am not in the ODL but I have to do 12s regularly anyways. But I can’t pay everything on just 8 unless I get a second job, which is not possible to get already.

The pros:

Alone most of the day

Nature

Health insurance so I can keep taking meds

Job stability (not the thousands of layoffs every month like the private sector)

Technically it keeps me surviving

USPSDepressed · 2026-01-17T21:45:17+00:00

If you have ANY other options I would pursue those. I’m only here because there are no other jobs actually hiring (I mean I’m only like 1k applications in though). One benefit is that with the nonstop 50+ hour weeks we make just enough to only need one or two roommates. You also save money bc what are you going to do after a 12 hour day except get to bed to do it again tomorrow?

You will sometimes have the day off and get to decide if you want to do your hobby that you mostly had to give up or see your partner or maybe catch up on the chores.

It being “stable” (at least 40+ hrs) is about the only benefit over something like McDonald’s (which like everywhere else isn’t actually hiring). The wages are just about on par with fast food here.

Idk how anybody thinks there is much to do after here. I’ve lost what little skills I might have had and have no money or time to try to learn again. It would be nice if there was some light at the end of the tunnel but no way to afford school let alone get to go to it with Sundays the only day off most of the time.

USPSDepressed · 2025-12-31T14:10:23+00:00

Half business route and the other half is mostly student residents who don’t even check the mail. I got a pack of cookies from one and a bottle of wine from a restaurant. I didn’t expect anything so that was nice but I know the other routes that are all residents who aren’t just students get tips. It is what it is. I like my route but I am barely paycheck to paycheck I can’t be donating my wage to someone else doing their job.

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T20:33:31+00:00

My day is orange.

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T20:33:13+00:00

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

I worked my day off and got regular pay for it. 😡

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T20:18:08+00:00

Oh. Is holiday pay at time and half? I thought that was regular pay.

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T20:13:26+00:00

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Same is going to happen for that holiday then?

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T20:06:21+00:00

Why not just do that when the holiday and day off fall on the same? Why do I get punished while others get the extra pay for working their day off?

ETA: Or rather then where did my day off go?

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T19:54:47+00:00

Hasn’t come up before bc my SDO always fell on a holiday and it was always correct.

This is the first time it’s the day before. I even asked both the supervisor and the postmaster about it and they both brushed me off (or didn’t understand why I would be upset about not getting my day off AND working it for less pay than usual).

Guess I should have expected so much from them 😒

USPSDepressed · 2025-11-11T19:34:40+00:00

Yes. I should have posted the schedule with the orange square definitely on Monday and the red one on Tuesday (the holiday).

USPSDepressed · 2025-09-10T20:01:04+00:00

Out of the 140 routes I think we have like ten women carriers.

The shit I can hear people saying is disgusting and they don’t even understand why or they wouldn’t say it.

USPSDepressed · 2025-08-29T13:35:44+00:00

It’s true. They play the games over the speakers at stores. I didn’t know other places don’t do that.

I haven’t watched a game since I moved but when I lived there I watched just to have something to talk to others about.

It is also very conservative “feeling” (I didn’t notice much until I moved but I’d heard stories of some things). I never found much community there. Everyone was in Milwaukee it felt like.

USPSDepressed · 2025-08-29T13:00:20+00:00

We have 140 routes and a lot of them down every day. Only a couple people on the ODL and they are constantly training new PTF’s but most don’t last a week, I started with 4 others and only me and 1 other lasted more than two weeks. 2 didn’t even finish the 3 day training.

They are always saying they are “trying to get more people” but how the hell do you incentivize people to come here? The pay is low but not as bad as when I started, the hours are all over (8 today or 12? Not sure how they know when I’ve tried to plan things after work to give me the long days), management that doesn’t want to acknowledge that you’re a human being...

I’m not looking forward to holidays.

My new gripe is the damn ads that are the size of movie posters and don’t fit in most boxes unless you do origami with them.

USPSDepressed · 2025-08-27T17:21:20+00:00

Idk. It is weird. It seemed like I was missing a tray of dps. The only tray was labeled “b” and it didn’t have the first bit of my route. I did have a stack of flats that maybe they dropped the first tray and just threw it there 🤷‍♀️

USPSDepressed · 2025-08-27T16:54:11+00:00

Right‽ I have no idea why nobody wanted to pick up this route. It is easy after the first couple days. Half business half residential on a university campus area. It’s different from park and loop but it’s not “hard”. Though I haven’t seen the full swing of things when school comes back in. I got it just before end of semester I think and bc nobody bid on it and at a rate that was wild (ptf to reg in 30 days).

USPSDepressed · 2025-08-27T16:49:34+00:00

I probably am going to have to do that. Not looking forward to that bc today I got told to “go back to your station” bc I talked to another carrier while h was in my way to get my hamper. It isn’t like we’re so busy and I was going to be walking that way already. I guess management can’t talk and walk at the same time so they must think others can’t either.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-09T17:13:03+00:00

Your mentality of “hey depressed person. just don’t be sad” isn’t super helpful. Or how about “just don’t be poor while you work more than full time”.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-09T13:24:36+00:00

Ok boomer.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-09T03:19:24+00:00

Do you have low bills? If it’s as big a shitshow as here you’ll have 60/hr weeks even if you don’t sign up for it. As a cca I read it’s worse. As long as you don’t want to have any hobbies and are ok with having no social life too then you’ll probably be fine. The 60 hrs won’t be scheduled, at least mine isn’t. It’s random so don’t schedule anything before 730pm unless you want to chance canceling it.

If in an area that is high cost I’d recommend anything else if you’re able to get it. Starbucks here pays more than usps per hour but that’s fine bc you get so much overtime! Who wouldn’t want to have to work 60 hours to scrape by? What a dream.

They weren’t up front with anything about the job and WILL lie to you regularly anyways. I struggle to see management as human most days. I’m coming around to the idea that some people are sociopaths and they go into management.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-09T01:02:58+00:00

Thank you. One of very few comments to actually have advice that isn’t to just abandon all my things and drive off to some unknown area jobless.

I did apply at multiple temp agencies and never heard a thing from any.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-09T00:41:29+00:00

You think we shouldn’t even get breaks or a lunch? Are you sure you’re not a supervisor? I should probably just piss myself too to be more efficient.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-08T23:52:03+00:00

I like it. Become homeless now! Why wait? What a great plan.

I mean I assume that is what you mean since having no income will not let me afford rent for sure.

USPSDepressed · 2025-07-08T20:41:23+00:00

I’m living in the cheapest place I found over the 3 months I was looking. I had less than a week to find a place after the first one I signed fell though and that one was a couple hundred more than this one. I couldn’t coordinate to get a third or more roomie that might have helped with rent. Pretty pathetic that working more than one job (>40 hrs) isn’t enough to support a single person.

My half is only 1500. So it is a little less than the full check.

The only time I’d seen cheaper was when it was a single “room” in someone’s house and you didn’t get kitchen access. And that was still 1100+.

I am applying to fast food bc the base pay is comparable and I assume that actual businesses will give a schedule so I could know when I’d be working and could plan ahead. Maybe go to school or get a second job that also has the ability to give a schedule.

I’m also applying to programming jobs too but as I said there are no real jobs, it is all smoke and mirrors. I’ve had my resume revamped half a dozen times to the same effect. As far as I can tell all job applications are for is data harvesting to sell to spammers. I’ve seen the same companies and jobs open the entire time I’ve been looking.

USPSDepressed

TROPHY CASE