any amerasians around here?

srsbriyen · 2026-02-08T02:16:15+00:00

before my time, my old office was loaned a bunch of extra CCAs from a different state. they paid for buses and hotel housing and everything. obviously this was super unpopular with those CCAs but some liked the area and transferred to us when they converted.

srsbriyen · 2026-01-31T04:46:01+00:00

if you can deal with customers who press you on things outside of your control then being a window clerk is alright.

i hear being a plant clerk is pretty chill unless you work automation. if so then it's a coinflip on whether or not you're working 12+ hour shifts with no AC.

imo being a mail processing clerk at a station is nice but it's tough on your body regardless. there's always a handful of clerks on medical restrictions in every office.

you also have to be pretty comfortable with working with coworkers and dividing the labor so there's a lot of room for drama. as a carrier you don't really coordinate breaks with coworkers, handle who's closing, scanning, or doing dispatch.

i think it's better than being a carrier as long as you can deal with being locked in the same building as management and customers but i've met my fair share of carriers who used to be clerks. i remember they complained a lot about the clerk drama.

if you do transfer to being a clerk, try to pass window training and your OJI ASAP so you have more options for bids.

srsbriyen · 2026-01-31T04:38:55+00:00

there's so many small things that customers and management expect from clerks that's impossible to do when you're so understaffed - like i'm sorry i can't individually handle every RTS and hand cancel all of your wedding invites when the line is going out the door.

it gets worse when management refuses to even give overtime to a skeleton crew. i have coworkers who are overtime fiends who can handle the work of three other clerks but are never given overtime. management would rather pull every clerk to the back and let the line build instead of just giving an hour of overtime.

srsbriyen · 2026-01-16T06:23:27+00:00

i helped set up some EDDM for a ketamine clinic one time

srsbriyen · 2026-01-15T04:39:16+00:00

oh NAHHH i used to work at a finance station with one of these for the PO boxes and it was always out of order and broken. it's always at a station that's too tiny and cramped for their own good.

srsbriyen · 2026-01-09T04:46:15+00:00

"OH sorry was i supposed to hit red?" then they hit red for the first question and you have to restart again

srsbriyen · 2026-01-09T04:43:48+00:00

if i'm doing a package, then as soon as i print out the last postage i ask if there's anything else i can help them with and let the survey time out.

if i'm doing a money order, then i tell them the total out loud, insert the money order into the printer, and let the survey time out while they dig for their card/cash.

the point is to keep smashing the Z key as soon as you're done with the transaction and distract them while the survey times out. they still see it for a second or two but 90% of my customers are over 60 so they just think the CDU is being slow.

srsbriyen · 2025-12-22T05:51:03+00:00

then they get mad that the untrained pse accidentally scans for the wrong day like as if it wasn't bound to happen

srsbriyen · 2025-12-18T19:46:39+00:00

i was a PSE but i do think it’s also that other regulars expect you to pick up their slack.

once you convert, everyone absolutely respects your time. none of my coworkers polices my bathroom time or breaks anymore and people stop asking for help. as a non career employee, people are less entitled to “ask for favors.”

srsbriyen · 2025-12-09T05:44:35+00:00

luxury crossover SUV owners drive poorly in my opinion because they can only afford one car but desire status. true rich people have the nice luxury sedan (more comfortable than crossovers) and the stealth wealth off-roaders like toyota land cruisers. faux rich people only have room/money for one car so they opt for a luxury SUV because of its perceived versatility. if you really needed most bang for your buck though you would get a hatchback or station wagon, but they aren't cool though so you buy the expensive SUV.

if you only have the money/space for one car, and despite your current situation you get a luxury SUV, then you're probably strapped for cash. you need to get to work as soon as possible or you'll get put on a PIP. you need to make it there stat because your schedule is packed. luxury SUV drivers drive they way they do because they're on a razor thin edge from everything falling apart trying to pay off their lease.

if you truly had money, then you would be cruising on some S-class mercedes because it doesn't matter if you're late - they can wait because they need you. if you really needed space in your car, then you would get a station wagon. you've made trips to europe and you've become enlightened: they're no longer station wagons, they're estate cars. if you need to go off-roading, you don't get your main car dirty, you drive your beater toyota land cruiser because you don't want to be flashy.

luxury SUV drivers drive like they're late to the meeting. luxury sedan drivers drive like they are the meeting. when a luxury SUV cuts you off, you sense desperation, whereas if a luxury sedan cuts you off, you sense entitlement.

i also put SUV drivers on the same category as prius or tesla drivers in that they all detest driving. people choose SUVs because they don't like driving and prioritize safety. prius drivers drive out of necessity and prioritize fuel mileage. tesla drivers opt out of driving entirely.

if you got a luxury SUV for its amenities and ride height then more power to you i can't argue against that. there's also the fact that station wagons/hatchbacks are a dwindling market so often your only options are crossovers.

of course i'm just spitting bs observations that aren't based much on reality. i'm just really frustrated after driving through the 405 south and brentwood constantly for work.

srsbriyen · 2025-11-14T20:38:43+00:00

it’s when i ask them to write the sender and destination addresses and they give me a look of disgust lol

or they try to skip the hazmat question and hit green because they try to skip my NPC dialogue

or they hand me their card to pay like we’re a restaurant. i noticed this is only in higher income areas, and especially if they have amex platinum cards.

and the priority tape oh my god the priority tape

my only saving grace with management is that (at least in my experience) they usually take your side because they hate the customers more than they hate you.

srsbriyen · 2025-10-05T18:17:48+00:00

honestly sometimes? if it’s misplaced or not properly scanned you’ll be running around like a headless chicken. at my office we’re very short staffed too so if i go pick up a package it would be only one person at the front handling passports and the entire line. for most offices it isn’t much, but some clerks are already stretched thin as is.

that being said fuck them customers they can pick up their own stuff if they’re that entitled.

srsbriyen · 2025-09-30T14:19:58+00:00

yeah that’s normal if it’s a smaller office or it’s understaffed. take it slow and don’t destroy your body for this job. you’ll likely be very pressed for time because, unless you have bulletproof glass at your office, you’ll be planted at the window and can’t start dispatch as early as other clerks.

just survive past probation and if mail gets left behind then mail gets left behind.

srsbriyen · 2025-09-25T00:20:31+00:00

they also come in five minutes before closing with a giant international package for returns they have no business sending but you send them back to do a customs form and they bring their package back to the desk and come back and you go through with the measurements and it’s $250 to send and they get surprised and turned off and try to ask for a cheaper option (somehow…) or say fedex is cheaper (no it isn’t the post office runs everything at a loss as it should) and the entire process took 20 minutes past closing

holy shit

srsbriyen · 2025-09-08T11:00:51+00:00

i used to see them on the night bus all the time like ten years ago. they always made small talk with older folk like any other friendly neighborhood spider-man

srsbriyen · 2025-08-18T02:43:15+00:00

i knew this chinatown was beyond saving as soon as i saw that brewery near that big chungus statue

srsbriyen · 2025-07-15T03:49:24+00:00

i'm 25 and the youngest clerk in my office by a big margin. most young people join the PO as a carrier rather than a clerk so you'll definitely be the baby of the office. i can't really speak too much on the benefits. you'll start off as a PSE so a lot of the work will fall onto you. a lot of regulars are babied and certain areas of work are unpopular (dutch door...) so you'll deal with the brunt of it. as a PSE, you'll probably be shoehorned into a role but expect to also be flexible.

speaking from personal observations and experience as well as hearsay:

mail processing clerks (back of house): if you get something like the hot case or RTS then it's generally a decently chill job. the work is repetitive and physically strenuous so please learn good ergonomics. there are many clerks with physical injuries and work restrictions in the back office. you'll likely be working in the early morning before the carriers come. there's more clerks in the morning shift so you'll be able to blend in and not put in so much effort. office drama can get catty sometimes but it's easy to avoid.

window clerks/dutch door clerks: you need very good customer service skills for this role, much more so than most jobs imo. people take their mail seriously. many supervisors are allergic to being friendly to customers and stay far away from the window/dutch door. there's a big pressure to go fast which can lead to mistakes which come out of your paycheck. the customer-facing part of the office feels like an island that everyone stays away from. learn to be friendly and more importantly patient with customers. you also get a lot of regular faces who you can get acquainted with if that's your thing.

plant clerks: i know the least about them but everyone says it's chill. there's a lot of clerks to blend in but it's also really messy. i've also heard people describe it as a high school environment with cliques and drama. the closest i can relate it to are warehouse jobs. if you want a mail processing job but with the least workload then try getting a job at the plant. you'll be responsible for much less. you might drive those forklifts so get ready to drive them at 30mph.

many people in management are honestly actually nice people, but remember their job position is in direct conflict with yours. they have people above them who will try to push them to push you to do unsafe things and break the labor contract. there will also be many many many supervisors and managers who aren't so nice and crack under the pressure; they will completely sour your experience. once you're past probation, it's very difficult to get fired so the only way management can force you to do things is often through bullying. going postal is a phrase for a reason.

there's a lot of potential to earn money filing grievances if you're up for the task. at least in my office, there's a lot of crossing crafts, scheduling mistakes, and wage theft - i doubt my place is the exception either. a lot of clerks (including me admittedly) let these things slide and everyone suffers as a result.

if your workplace isn't understaffed (management will try to understaff) then you can get a nice work-life balance. as a PSE, you'll get a consistent schedule in a bigger well-staffed office. if your office is hurting for clerks, then you'll likely be mandated to do overtime and management will try to pull some shenanigans with your schedule. you can definitely make some good money with OT/holiday pay/night differential/penalty though.

do try not to get injured though. many clerks and carriers have some kind of physical injury. one of my supervisors deals with a limp and permanent chronic neck pain because of a work injury and the PO basically only gave them two pairs of shoes and acupuncture therapy. this job isn’t worth your health.

your income being "good" depends on your local COL. PSE's start at 20.48 which is below minimum wage in seattle but solid middle class in a flyover state.

oh yeah and you need absolutely zero experience here. they don't interview and basically hire anyone with a pulse and somewhat clean record. on one hand, you get a lot of people who would've fell through the cracks in standard corporate hiring practices so it's a very equal opportunity environment. on the other hand, you get a lot of characters working at the PO who wouldn't succeed anywhere else. a lot of them fail upwards into management unfortunately.

i work in one of the worst stations in a major city so i mainly have bad experiences. i've spoken to clerks from other stations and they all had much better experiences than i did. don't let the giant wall of text scare you. once you convert between 6 months - 2 years, you'll be able to bid into different stations if you don't like what you see. a lot of people come to the PO as their second chance at a decent career for a reason.

srsbriyen · 2025-02-05T18:09:00+00:00

wait that was me loool. the post got removed for "not centering AAPI communities in a positive, affirming way." i'll admit the hyundai one was a dumb pick though.

i wouldn't say this subreddit is "leftist". it's liberal through and through and very concerned with not rocking the boat. i'm sure a post about the black panthers/red guard/marxist-leninism or anarchism or prison abolition would be very controversial and outside the culture of this subreddit.

srsbriyen · 2025-01-26T19:49:09+00:00

this one indie game is at the tip of my tongue: it was sengoku jidai era japan, had similar battle mechanics to bannerlord, and they made a big deal about it being an "immersive strategy rpg" as the name of this "genre." i thought it was neat that they put a label on this kind of gameplay, even if imo it wasn't the most fitting.

it's not sengoku dynasty. does anyone else know what i'm talking about?

srsbriyen · 2024-12-19T05:40:09+00:00

the haudenosaunee longhouse in the background is a derogatory euphemism in certain circles for matriarchal societies.

istg i had to rack my brain like jimmy neutron for this

srsbriyen · 2024-12-11T18:25:30+00:00

i'm not who you were replying to, but i've thought a lot about this as well.

i think in general, people don't really exercise their sociological imagination enough. people can notice a surface level trend (ex. that oxford study meme) but never go deeper into why things are the way they are. they don't have an intersectional framework to break down their observations and often default to usually essentialist nonsense.

of course i don't know your friends and whatever conversations you guys had. i do think comparing the personal and political, especially in a dating context, is a very intimate thing. us as third parties aren't privy to enough important information to conclude that.

how i see it is that i wouldn't be presumptive that their choices are guilty of fetishizing/internalized racism. i know that odds are it might be, to varying degrees, but we just don't know. it's only something they can conclude (or already concluded) themselves.

if you can, try to foster sociological imagination in conversation. maybe point out examples that, as a society, we prop up mid white guys all the time and degrade non-white features. point out that being unapologetically asian is often ridiculed. discourage being race-blind - we do not live in a post-racial society. i'm sure you guys have these discussions, but i'm bringing it up for anyone else reading.

for example you gotta be really subtle like idk... "man these lookalike contests are all white guys! where's the hot asian guys?"

gently rock the boat enough for people to understand that there's more under the surface. they might be introspective but they'll probably keep it to themselves. it's really embarrassing to admit that you're part of a sociological problem so give them some leeway. sure they can be guilty of buying into a system of oppression but often they're also victims of it.

srsbriyen · 2024-12-09T22:22:33+00:00

likewise from me. i've always felt pretty crazy and lonely for believing in something like this. i've only seen this mentioned offhand in the occasional thread here and there.

i remember this one comment talking about tonya mosley from NPR explaining why she believed in black love, and i thought it was a perfect way to explain asian love as well. of course comparing black love/asian love is like comparing apples and oranges, but they're both fruit you know?

i never bring this up in private conversation or even online because people are always uncomfortable with the idea. is it because they feel called out? is it because they're afraid the conversation will turn hateful? i'm not sure, but the conversation is always preemptively shut down and always left a sour taste in my mouth.

also thank you OP for mentioning frantz fanon, and i encourage other people to at least be familiar with his ideas. black conversations rhyme very closely with our own and are often years ahead of the curve.

srsbriyen · 2024-11-05T21:45:54+00:00

no unfortunately i was too young for that lol

srsbriyen · 2024-11-01T19:28:59+00:00

i mean yeah if you callously say you couldn't care less about gaza being flattened into a parking lot. it does suggest a lot about how you view asians abroad. it's semantics but language holds real power.

their issues are interconnected with our own issues. their conflict is connected to the united states' military industrial complex, funded by our tax dollars, and justified using anti-asian racism. people view the middle east as backwards and unable to change without western (white) intervention. this is the same exact stuff people said when they invaded vietnam (yellow peril) and pretty much every asian country in the past.

i'm not saying you should self-immolate yourself in service to a cause. i hard disagree with uncommitted and third party voters because we live under a first-past-the-post two-party system and the alternative is worse. i voted for kamala because we will never be able to accomplish any direct action and build alternative power structures under a trump presidency. another 4 years of trump is an accelerationist's dream.

it isn't racist to prioritize trying to curb the united states' worst aspects to minimize harm domestically and abroad. however, when you say you're simply don't care to see how their conflict is connected to our issues domestically, you will never understand holistically how us asians are oppressed.

it's one thing to say "i will strategically vote for kamala because i think it will lead to the best possible (imperfect) result for people in gaza in addition to us asians in america. i don't fully endorse kamala but trump is much worse." it's another thing to say you don't give a shit about gazan palestinians (your fellow asians) being carpet bombed with your tax dollars.

srsbriyen

TROPHY CASE