I'm stuck between a mail place and a recycling spot. My mail lady just ran over my garbage. To be more precise, she just rammed my recycling bin with her mail delivery vehicle, while she was talking on her cell phone.

I think she did it on purpose.

I live in a cul de sac(circular dead end in the street of a US subdivision sometimes referred to as the American purgatory). The mail lady drives a standard issue USPS mail delivery vehicle with the drivers side on the right side of the vehicle, which is the opposite side for the US. She stops-and-goes through the cul de sac travelling counter clockwise around the circular end dropping off mail in the mail boxes planted on posts on the street curb.

If she has a package to deliver, she'll drive up my long 40 foot drive way, honk her horn and wait 60 seconds, hoping someone will come out and relieve her of the burden of her delivery. If no one comes out then she will either toss the package out the window onto the ground or she will sometimes actuall get out, walk up to our stairs and toss the package up the stairs before she drives away.

This is standard treatment for everyone in the subdivision. She doesn't get out of the truck unless absolutely required to do so.

Thursday is my garbage and recycling day. I load up the trash and pull the garbage and recycling bin down to the street and set them on the curb. I have 2 recycling bins where I put all the recyclables, cans, bottles, jars, plastics all mixed together. The bins are about 16 inches tall and 2 feet wide.

I have to put the recycling bins in front of the garbage cans otherwise the recycling truck won't pick them up. He can't see the bins if they are hidden behind the garbage cans.

The mail lady keeps telling me to tuck them out of her way though so that she can blissfully drive through the cul de sac at optimum speed.

I can't please both. If I do what the mail lady says, the recycling guy won't pick up the recycling. If I do what the recycling guy requires, the mail lady has to turn her steering wheel a little harder to the left.

Today, my garbage and recycling were out ready for the pick up tomorrow morning. The mail lady comes by and drops off my mail. She rams my recycling bin with her bumper leaving bottles, cans and debris strewn across the cul de sac and drives away.

She doesn't stop to say, 'I just had an accident and spilled recyclying trash all over the street'. Doesn't say anything.

Now I wanted to talk with her today to warn her that we had a 2nd break in within our sub division in the middle of the day and she should be careful. I hoped to stop her as she dropped the mail off but I was a little slow. So I see her take out my garbage at Mach 1, and I jog down 2 doors and catch up with her at a different neighbors mail box. I say, "Hey, did you just run over my garbage? Why didn't you stop and tell me or something."

She replies, "I was talking on my cell phone with someone and had intended to drive down the street aways and then come back because its hard to turn around there."(in the cull de sac where there's a nice big circle as opposed to a block down the street where there's a skinny little street)

She gives me her spiel about she can't see in front of her truck (despite the fact that she could have looked where she was driving before she got too close to see, what if it had been a little kid or pet or something?)

I warn her about the break ins and tell her to be careful. Then I walk back up the street and pick up my garbage.

USPS DISCLAIMER
Just for all the USPS lovers and defenders out there, please understand that I worked for the USPS myself for 4 years and took an early retirement. I worked hard and very long hours with lots of people that weren't half this lazy. What she is doing is partly an attempt at efficiency, but hard work has to fill the efficiency gap when things come up and running over your customers garbage is bad for business.

I'll lay odds that the recycling guy will miss my recycling bin in the morning!


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