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00:00:01
Tough Love For CCA's, PTF's & PSE's
51 Plays2 months ago
On today's episode of the Postal Blue Podcast, we speak the new employees mental and emotional state in current times. There seems to be a disconnect on what newcomers think the job is and what their job actually is. We are here to clear up the disconnect and reconnect the postal ladder and let newcomers know what their job titles actually are.
#nalc #apwu #usps #postoffice #postalbluepodcast #mailcarriers
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:01
lastyles
What's going on, everyone? It's your boy, LA Styles, AKA the LA Styles, along with your co-host, Black Knight, AKA Koffee. so we
00:00:10
Blacknight
Yes sir.
00:00:13
lastyles
The boys in the building, we're on another episode of the postal blue podcast. This is episode seven, if I'm not mistaken. Episode seven, again, it's more like 10 because of our point fives, but the official episode number seven of the postal blue podcast. Y'all make sure you hit that share button, hit that subscribe button, sharing this, Karen, make sure your coworkers hear this on every episode for things that might pertain to them or benefit them. Make sure your customers hear this.
00:00:40
lastyles
of things that might help you or help them or benefit them as well.
Labor Day and Postal Service Goals
00:00:45
lastyles
We're gonna go ahead and get this ah intro out the way.
00:01:11
lastyles
there we go there we go there we go episode seven episode seven another week down in the post office what's going on with the boy coffee how you feeling over there man
00:01:19
Blacknight
Yes, sir. Man, you know, I'm feeling like, you know, we almost on labor day. So, you know, I'm feeling pretty good, you know, ready to get the week going, but, you know, glad to have off Monday.
00:01:35
Blacknight
Hopefully everybody, you know, still in the fight, ready to fight, standing up for what's right, doing what's right. Make it all right.
00:01:45
Blacknight
Sloan fight, but you know what I'm saying? I'm off my name, man.
00:01:45
lastyles
Oh, did they let you off Monday?
00:01:50
lastyles
Did they let you off Monday though?
00:01:52
Blacknight
Hey man, you know, I'm off money, you know.
00:01:55
lastyles
That's the question, did they let you off Monday? They're like the kidnapped people.
00:01:58
Blacknight
Well, you know, I subscribe.
00:02:00
lastyles
They used to really like the kidnapped people back in the day. but
00:02:03
Blacknight
I subscribe to the part of freedom. oh If you set yourself up to do things that you want to do, can't nobody make you do stuff you don't want to do. So that's kind of what postal blue podcast stand for. You know what you can do.
00:02:21
Blacknight
knowing what you're fighting for. And if you continue to do the good fight, you have all these good things and all these good civil rights, civil things that we should have as a body, which serves a great company. So I don't think nothing's wrong with the post office. I think we just need to do a couple of tweaks, get a couple of bad apples out of there.
00:02:41
Blacknight
And therefore we'll have, we can make our company continue to be great, continue to be the cornerstone branch that it always has been.
Significance of Episode Number and Personal Traditions
00:02:53
Blacknight
So we just got to keep doing the thing, man. I'm happy. I'm feeling good, feeling strong. So, uh, you know, we're going to go ahead and take off on, you said this episode number seven.
00:03:06
lastyles
Yep, yep, episode seven.
00:03:08
Blacknight
Oh man, look seven is a great number, man. Throw your sevens up for my boy Mello out there.
00:03:16
Blacknight
Let's get it, man.
00:03:18
lastyles
I think 37 is up for me next next month. Got about a month and six days to the B day.
00:03:22
Blacknight
This gonna be your birthday, right?
00:03:26
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? On the 7th, next month.
00:03:27
Blacknight
Okay, okay.
00:03:30
Blacknight
Would you, uh, anything, anything you looking for for your birthday before we kick off?
00:03:31
lastyles
um
00:03:37
lastyles
Not y'alls.
00:03:39
Blacknight
Nachos every year, huh?
00:03:40
lastyles
The old lady, the old lady every year on
Training Challenges and Management Issues
00:03:43
lastyles
the 7th.
00:03:43
lastyles
October 7th is natural day.
00:03:49
Blacknight
Not your day.
00:03:52
lastyles
So Tia chips, different types of Doritos, whatever chip that you can imagine, different meats, sauces, I guess it's, you know what I'm saying? You think I'm Hispanic, the way the old lady do it up in here, you know what I'm saying?
00:04:04
lastyles
It's National Nacho Day, you know what I'm saying? Up at my house every October 7th.
00:04:07
Blacknight
L.A. L.A., we got to start over.
00:04:12
Blacknight
You got a canvas one, bro. On some of yours, ah ah you having some technical issues, your mic went in and out on some of it. I can see you talking, so I know you was talking, doing it, but it skipped a little part in there. I don't know if you want to keep going and you want to edit it out or what.
00:04:32
lastyles
Oh, it's showing up at the bottom in the what's going to call it.
00:04:35
Blacknight
Okay, maybe just on my end, my bad, I apologize.
00:04:39
lastyles
ah My check. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's showing up down there. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it was just showing up small or something like that.
00:04:41
Blacknight
Okay. Okay. All right. Make sure you edit that part that I said it, but yeah. Hey, that's what's up. Natural, uh, natural day for October the seven. You know what I'm saying? Make sure y'all, uh, go to go over to X and send my boy LA styles. You know what I'm saying? No birthday wishes, man. Another year, some more greatness, some more things he got to come. So, you know, make sure y'all send my guy October the seven LA day. Let's get it.
00:05:12
lastyles
but Big facts, big facts. um
00:05:14
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
00:05:17
lastyles
it's It's been, um I wanna say it's been a good week. It's been a tiresome week because of training. um I'm like training a ah PTF and I'm training in the supervisor, a new supervisor in the same week.
00:05:36
Blacknight
Right.
00:05:37
Blacknight
Thank you.
00:05:38
lastyles
um So my schedule,
00:05:42
lastyles
My schedule hasn't been, I don't know what the the word I'm looking for, the term I'm looking for, but my schedule hasn't been the most conducive or the most productive ah for me. For other people it's been working out, but for me it's it's kind of been kind of been off off like crazy.
00:06:05
lastyles
but It should be back on a little bit, um, this, this week. Um, and they're having issues with, uh, new ETFs in general, new PTFs.
00:06:16
lastyles
Um, I'll talk about that maybe on the 0.5 new, new PTFs coming in thinking they regulars and.
00:06:17
Blacknight
What kind of issues? I know irritating.
00:06:34
lastyles
Like, okay, example, right? A PTF got by themselves. Now we have a, a regular that's on a detailed downtown, right? But she's limited duty.
00:06:45
Blacknight
Okay.
00:06:46
lastyles
Um, so she's on a detailed downtown.
00:06:48
lastyles
So when this, this young lady finished her training, um, with Mike, I pretty much, when I was, when I was still on the desk, I pretty much was putting her on that same route consistently, like every day.
00:07:03
lastyles
Now, up until maybe last week, early last week, she might've been at her four or five weeks in, right?
00:07:16
Blacknight
What?
00:07:17
lastyles
So if anybody know to the the circumstances, you're not allowed to have a ah hold in that amount of time, right?
00:07:26
Blacknight
Correct.
00:07:26
lastyles
So I would just assign her and she could do it.
00:07:28
lastyles
She was doing it, knocking it out, casing and carrying, right?
00:07:31
Blacknight
Oh, this was it.
00:07:32
lastyles
So um our second highest senior PTF was recently bumped off his hold down because the route that he was on got a new regular and the regular started um not this last Saturday, but the Saturday before.
00:07:44
Blacknight
Right, right, right.
00:07:50
lastyles
So now this lady has an attitude, right? Because he chose to put a hold down on that route. Now he's been in probably almost a year, eight months, nine months, something like that. But at this time he chose that he wanted that route, which is open for him.
00:07:59
Blacknight
Okay.
00:08:04
lastyles
Right. So now she's on another route. So now she's, she's, uh, complaining and almost kind of like throwing tantrums I mean that's what it seemed like if you if you hear some of the conversations almost like kind of throwing a tantrum that she's no longer doing that route why is he on her route and it's like it's not your route it was never your route the fact that you got to hold down means it's not your route that it's somebody else's route that you're temporarily holding down
00:08:17
Blacknight
Hmm.
00:08:34
lastyles
Right? But you don't even have the time in to do a whole damn. So now that she's on other routes, now she's dragging out what seems to be, what seems to be, air quotes, seemingly dragging out doing other routes because she's upset that she has to do any other route outside of that route.
00:08:53
lastyles
And i don't know I don't know if orientation is doing it any justice. I don't know if I should put it on orientation. I don't know if it's the PTF slash new CCAs who don't have this understanding of how of how to system go or um how much say so they think that they have in them doing overtime once they reach a certain increments and things like that. Like they they really just don't know.
00:09:18
lastyles
um And then they think you you messing with them when you explaining how the system go, like, no, ah that's not, no, that's not how it goes. But, um so things like that, like going into, let's say Saturday, she comes in Saturday. Now I've, because she was doing it, I removed the casing from her. You report at nine.
00:09:43
Blacknight
Right.
00:09:43
lastyles
told management, she reports that not remove the case in front of her.
00:09:46
lastyles
Last time she case on this same route, she took almost three hours to case, then went out in the street and brought back three hours a meal.
00:09:54
Blacknight
Okay.
00:09:56
lastyles
that's that's um that's That's not good standing with me. That's not good standing. But I'll know why you're doing it. Okay, cool. So I'm not gonna even say it's an issue.
00:10:08
lastyles
I'ma fix the problem. I don't know what the issue is. I'ma fix the problem. Cause the problem is the mail coming back. Cool. I removed the casing so you can get this mail done.
00:10:16
Blacknight
Right.
00:10:18
lastyles
Now we ain't got to worry about mail coming back in. Now she feels some type of way towards that. Well, other people get to come in, they case and carry, but other people come in, they case and carry and they don't bring back mail.
00:10:29
Blacknight
So true.
00:10:30
lastyles
So I got to help you fix the problem.
00:10:34
lastyles
If that seems to be an issue from you, I can take all the street from you and just allow you to case all day, but I can take the case in from you and allow you to walk mail all day. Fix the problem. Now, most PTF, listen, you want you might want to fix the problem or talk to somebody before your management has to fix the problem, um which might not be in your favor or your benefit, but it's called managing for a reason, whether whether you like it or not. ah When I came in, ah not everybody can case and carry. Sometimes they used to wait until after your 90 days before they let you case. You just had to walk mail consistently.
00:11:12
Blacknight
True.
00:11:12
lastyles
Some days used to come in after after after you hit a certain period of time, because our training was two weeks, two weeks, two weeks for the eight hour situation.
00:11:20
lastyles
um You would come in and you would mess around and get 12 hours of mail assigned to you of all walking.
00:11:25
Blacknight
Big
00:11:26
lastyles
You ain't got no cakes today. Almost carry a route and then when you finish that carry another route, that's your 12 carrying two whole routes that day so when we got a hold and it was like a blessing to to be able to Jason Kerry because you knew you have a period of time where you didn't have to walk mail, you know I'm saying and They clearly don't don't ah They don't they don't know that part of the game or that part of the system and
00:11:29
Blacknight
thanks.
00:11:43
Blacknight
All right.
00:11:54
lastyles
And it's almost like like the the new military, like this generation, almost for the younger people, then like you almost won't they almost want you to baby them. And it's like, i'm the I personally can't baby nobody, because I see the people that was that got babied in the last generation, within the last year or two, who shouldn't have made it, who made it, and we stuck with them, and I refuse to be stuck with someone else like them in my station. So that's not gonna happen now, you know what I'm saying? At least not on my watch.
00:12:21
lastyles
Um, but she came in and to carry the route, she she said to me, I'm not on the desk at the time that she, she had told you, uh, the closer yesterday that she was unavailable for all for time. Right. Then she had a doctor's appointment this on a Saturday. Cool. Cool. So.
00:12:46
lastyles
I didn't see the opener, and I had to finish packing up my stuff and leaving, so I left. I called like an hour later to the station to go over with the opener what her schedule was, right? I said, I'm trying to verify how much time she has. She said she has the six hours for that route, and if she has two hours,
00:13:11
lastyles
on another route. Okay. That's eight hours. Okay. I need you to send a message to her because she said she talked to the closer yesterday and that she was not available for overtime. So I need you to send a message, REM sex tour, letting her know that she don't have overtime. She has six hours here, two hours there. She sent him REM's message.
00:13:36
lastyles
While I'm on the phone with the opener, on the opener's personal line, the carrier calls the work phone, on speaker on the work phone. I can hear it in the background, talking to the opener. I don't know if that's gonna work for me. I said I was unavailable for overtime to him, so on, so on, so on. And the opener said, well, you don't have any overtime. You assigned eight hours. Well, last time I did this route, it took me to 545.
00:14:03
lastyles
So I'll tell you the opening. So why would it take her from 9 a.m. to 5.45 on a route she's carried multiple times? No extra mail, no extra whatever the case, just that other. Why would it have took her to 5.45? Plus, I can't schedule you, because now you're like a medium range PTO. I can't schedule you and say, hey, you can get, here goes six, but you can take down in the half on it. And I'm just not going to give you quote unquote over time. No, not giving you over time, because I'm not going to assign you anything over to eight.
00:14:31
lastyles
Cool. Cause everybody's still got to get assigned what they assigned to to a degree. Cool. She said, well, so the opening act, so, so what you meant was you're not available to have an eight hour day is what you're saying. Cause right. If you say you can't do the two hours, then you should be only doing the six and six on any type of leeway, maybe six 30, maybe six 40, but I can't give you eight hours with the six hours that you have on a route that you've carried multiple times. And I've already showed that you can get it done in six.
00:15:02
lastyles
Right? Cool.
00:15:03
Blacknight
Mmhmm.
00:15:06
lastyles
So, right there, after that, cause then Oprah's like, well,
System Rules and Performance Standards
00:15:14
lastyles
I call you back.
00:15:15
lastyles
I look at the stuff and call you back. As soon as she got the phone, I was like, nah, I'm moving her. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. I ain't got time for that either or I cut you loose.
00:15:28
lastyles
Right? Cause at this point, going into prior to that, whatever, a few days before that, ah close the clothes are called to check on her say, um, how much you got left? Cause you still got your two hours here. Oh, I got three splits and I got a lot of packages. He asked her, well, why do you have a lot of packages? If you're going to get three splits, aren't you doing your packages with your mail? She say sometimes, but I'm, I got to do what's comfortable for me.
00:16:03
lastyles
However it came, they got off the phone. However it came. I don't know if she hung up, he hung up. He said he called her back, whatever the case is. He put the mail in the truck, go outside, find her, open the vehicle. There's one split and no packages.
00:16:19
lastyles
He got two or five minutes after the call. Now, oh, and I feel like y'all harassing me. Man, I ain't got time for the games, bro. I ain't got time for the games because you got an attitude about not being on this route that's not your route in in the first place. Get right and get left. I'm not asking you to do pivots. I'm not asking you you to do whatever the case is. I'm not asking you to do nothing extra, so on, so on, so on. and So I'm asking you to do what you come here to be assigned to do. That's all.
00:16:46
Blacknight
Correct.
00:16:47
lastyles
and you're getting assigned to do things that you're capable of assigned to doing. you took You came in saying you're unavailable for overtime and then changed that into you're unavailable for any type of time. Oh, I left a part out. So when she said big about the doctor's appointment, ah the opener asked her, what time is your doctor's appointment, right? She said, well, I was told I could just come in when I finished working.
00:17:17
lastyles
Things like that, man. If youve if that's the attitude that you have to me, I mean, i might it might come off personal to me, i mean and it shouldn't, but again, we work with too many bad carriers already, or people with bad attitudes already. You making something a problem that ain't no problem. Ain't nobody sweating you, anybody hassling you, but i can't I can't allow a group of maybe six PTFs and one come in and think that because I feel some type of way, I should be allowed to do less than everybody else.
00:17:48
lastyles
because I feel some type of way. Until I no longer feel some type of way, I feel like I should just be able to do less, but it's y'all still pay me the same. And that's it. Like, like we gotta to deal with you. No, you gotta to deal with the job or you get cut loose.
00:18:04
lastyles
like the military is, or used to be. this is how them This is what the military rules is. Either you can fit in with the military, or you don't fit in with the military. Now, we gonna change the rules to benefit you, and because the new generation is sensitive, let's all cater to their feelings.
00:18:12
Blacknight
You fit in or fit out.
00:18:20
lastyles
Man, this is work, man. This is work, yll this is this is work man this is I'm not your friend. I'm not your, your, your uncle. I'm not your, your relative. No, none of that. I'm a person that that's gonna come in, do the information, get you trained the right way of of doing things.
00:18:38
lastyles
And I'm there for you on the workroom floor, for anything that happens. I'm gonna let you know when something's not right, something is right, something inappropriate. Hey, you're gonna have to fight this another way or whatever, because you know what I'm saying? This is it. This is mismanaging. That's not whatever the case is. I'm gonna tell you that. But when when you just playing games, I don't deal with the playing the games.
00:18:58
lastyles
especially coming from somebody that used to be out there with the 12, 13, 14, 15s and having to go out there and continually help people that was playing games. I should have to help nobody that's playing games. So now, when i'm as I'm a regular, when I see people that's come in and attempted to play some type of game, it don't sit well with me. Because I remember having me having to have way longer days and put way more mileage on my legs to have people like you around.
00:19:24
Blacknight
I think the problem is I think a lot of people
00:19:24
lastyles
Just do what you got to do.
00:19:28
lastyles
Go to your coffee.
00:19:34
Blacknight
get this notion that it is easy to do to be a male carrier because they see their local male carrier walking down the street and and it looks very, with no effort in what they're doing. That just means they proficient at what they do. My problem with new people is this is an art form. This is, this is a skill, right? Any skill that you're working on is going to be difficult in the beginning.
00:20:04
Blacknight
But we pay you to go through that difficult time as you learn the skill. One of the skills you need to learn is how to listen, how to follow direction, how to understand it. We're not paying you to tell us what you can and cannot do. It's a job, literally, just a job. Any job you go to, you have rules and regulations. You have things that performance of the job is what the job is.
00:20:35
Blacknight
You're mad because you're not on ah on a certain route. Okay, you can be mad. You're entitled to how you feel, but we're entitled to work you. that's not That's not part of it. You get mad because you're not getting what you want, so now you ain't gonna work. That's not what you do. When you come to work, you work. You're upset about something, cool. Call one of your coworkers and complain to them. Go talk to, like, I tell people all the time, go talk to your management. Just go holler at them and be like, hey Is there anything, is there any way that I can get on that route again? Learn, learn why you're not on the route. If you would have just talked to management, they would have said, we don't have a problem with you being on the route. Somebody just put a hole down on it. Therefore, by the bylaws, you don't get to do the route. So when you get that much time in, you can put put a hole down in, but you're going to become what management
00:21:35
Blacknight
identifies as the whole management identifies that everybody has that characteristic. And the reason why we're not performing in the metrics, the way that we, where they feel like we should is because carriers are doing what you're doing. No matter how mad you make me, I'm going to go out and do my job the way it's supposed to be done. Every morning I wake up.
00:22:03
Blacknight
I got to look myself in the face and I got to tell myself, Hey, I got to come to work the way I'm supposed to come to work. That's just the bottom line. We can't, we can't have a organization hire people who believe they're bigger than the organization. The organization is not bigger than organization. Managers are not bigger than the post office. Carriers are not bigger than the post office. Clerks are not bigger than the post office.
00:22:29
Blacknight
Nobody is bigger than the post office. We are the collective that makes up the post office. And if everybody does their job, we have we have completed one day. We gotta rinse, repeat. When you're coming in, ingratiate yourself to the people who are trying to show you the way. But I can tell you this, um'm be I'm gonna be very stern. If you don't want to do the job right,
00:22:59
Blacknight
go to Walmart, go to Family Dollar, go somewhere where those excuses ah apply.
00:23:10
Blacknight
Don't come up missing up my ah my where I make my money at.
00:23:15
Blacknight
Don't come up here, go here.
00:23:16
lastyles
And to clarify with that, the post office
00:23:20
lastyles
like the military and like other jobs. It's not just those who like other jobs. There's a structured system that's in the contract. This is documented stuff that you can't change.
00:23:32
lastyles
And no matter who you are as a single individual, it's not gonna change for you. Things have to be done a certain way.
00:23:36
Blacknight
Correct.
00:23:39
lastyles
If it's not that that way, it it's gonna get corrected until it gets back into that way. They're not going to come in and in can change something that that's contractual.
00:23:51
lastyles
right That's contractual. They're saying, we can't do this.
00:23:53
Blacknight
Yes.
00:23:55
lastyles
They're not going to change that for you. If you want a job that don't have that type of structure, then you're supposed to go to the places like coffee set. They don't have that type of structure. When you go to places that have unions, they have contracts on how things are done.
00:24:06
Blacknight
Come on.
00:24:10
lastyles
Those unions don't bend the rules around you because the contract says there is no bending of the rules for you. Otherwise I should have bent the rules for the people before you and the people before them and the people before them. And I wasn't allowed to do it then. And I'm not allowed to do it now until that's no longer in the union contract. I don't know if a lot of y'all just not used to union jobs, but the world don't been around you. The system been around you. and And when you come first, come to the post office in your first 90 days,
00:24:41
lastyles
Hiring you fully is on management side. You get some protection in the union. When your first 90 days, and really they're gonna say 80, because they're gonna do your third review at your 80 days, if they feel some type of way about your attendance, about your work performance, about your attitude, about your, they have the right not to keep you, and the union can't do anything about that.
00:25:01
Blacknight
Facts.
00:25:02
lastyles
Because you don't have that type of protection until after your 90.
00:25:07
lastyles
So if you come in and think I'm just gonna play games and I'ma make it, maybe you done heard the wrong advice or the wrong information from from from people. Right now, because it looks like there's a lot of y'all here, PTFs here, that's not gonna cut it.
00:25:20
lastyles
Back in the day, would a post office feel like they was down during COVID and after COVID and up until about a year ago or so, you might've got that off.
00:25:20
Blacknight
Yep.
00:25:29
lastyles
Because we got people that's regulars now who got that off. Right now, because it's so many of y'all, you not getting that off.
00:25:35
Blacknight
at all.
00:25:37
lastyles
You're not, you're not getting that off. You're not going to make it to your 90 days. I'm sorry. I don didn't let four, I didn't let four people go within the last, within the last three and a half to four weeks before they had 60 days was up. And I ain't got no problem doing it again. As badly as some people might need to help. We don't need bad carriers neither. If you're going to be slow, you're going to be behind or at least be cold with it.
00:26:04
lastyles
I'm not even putting nobody on the top, at least be cold with it. Hey, listen, dude right there, he a little bit slow, he a little bit, you know what I'm saying? Whatever the case, on the slowest side, but his job gets done. you don't bring back no mail, you're gonna be out there for whatever the case is and you know what I'm saying?
00:26:19
Blacknight
yeah
00:26:20
lastyles
You can't have the type of attitude and carry it like that and then you don't even complete your job and you bring it back mail and bring it back packages and then just walking out the building, not telling nobody, not not whatever case you just gone, cause you feel some type of way, got some type of attitude.
00:26:33
lastyles
You guys get in trouble like that.
00:26:35
Blacknight
Right. And we're not saying when we say speed, what we're saying is normal working speed. We're not telling you to run. We ain't telling you to sprint. We're are telling you if you have shown us a, that you have ability to get something done in a, in a certain time, get it done in that time. And if you sick, then you will look slower than your normal pace. That's understandable.
00:27:02
Blacknight
But you can't be where you've been doing something in eight hours. Now you want to take it tell me to take you 12.
00:27:11
Blacknight
That just angle ain't gonna change.
00:27:11
lastyles
And ain't nothing changed coffee.
00:27:13
Blacknight
Look.
00:27:14
lastyles
You done did it for three, four days in a row.
00:27:17
lastyles
Ain't no extra meal. Ain't no extra packages. Ain't no extra, no extra nothing around clean. You done did it in, let's say it was free time. You done did it in six, six 30 the whole time. Now all of a sudden you doing it in, in nine, nine and a half with no extra, whatever the case is.
00:27:30
lastyles
And don't think that's a change since last time you did it on time was your attitude. That's not going to fly.
00:27:35
Blacknight
You're right.
00:27:39
lastyles
Again, you got way more leeway, way more coverage and things of that nature after your 90 days, but you got to get through your 90 days first. That's what you
Generational Transition in Postal Workforce
00:27:48
lastyles
got to understand. That's what the new, the new generation.
00:27:50
Blacknight
And you got to understand where the post office is in there. There were at this point in time, the old guard is almost out.
00:27:50
lastyles
That's what y'all got to understand right now.
00:28:07
Blacknight
The carriers with the 30, 40 years, 25 years of service, they are actually leaving. So you say, what do that mean? What that mean is that we're finna go through a time where the new carriers are finna be, it's finna start putting that time in. It's gonna be less turnover. Less turnover means it's less opportunity to hire new people. And where you have 25 people fighting for one spot. Hey, you got to be on your game. And this ain't about running. This ain't about kissing, but this, this is about just doing the job, the way your skills there can do the job. We want you here. If you want to be here, we want you to be the change that we want to see. We want you to be in the fight that we're in, but you can't come in and be a liability.
00:29:07
Blacknight
I'm not about to babysit nobody because they wanted, they just want to have a bad attitude for the next six months because, oh, people keep asking me why I keep messing up their route. The question, that's why they asking because nobody understand why you keep doing it. You don't know what you're doing. Yeah, but, uh, I know, but if you and this crap, we believe that you can do the job correctly. That's why we call you brother.
00:29:37
Blacknight
That's what we call your sister. If you're having problems, let us know. Tell us what's going on out there. A lot of us been around for a long time. We'll saw a lot of things and we have saw lazy. We have saw we don't give a damn and we don't want to keep saying it because you are the guys or the women who's giving all of us a bad name. You are the people who they keep saying the whole,
00:30:06
Blacknight
All of us are what is only like 20 is only like 250 of you guys spread it all over the place, but that 250 is making all those look bad.
00:30:17
Blacknight
Our customers are tired of having carriers who's trying to get in that just bad.
00:30:24
Blacknight
So we got. Go ahead.
00:30:24
lastyles
Now watch this, watch this, now I know you got a problem with this, but people, you you should have a problem with this, but at the same time, you part of the problem, but you should have a problem with what I'm about to say, right?
00:30:37
lastyles
What am I about to say, right? We have Ford facing customers, meaning these are people that we see individually, typically every day, five to six days a week, right?
00:30:50
Blacknight
Mm hmm.
00:30:55
lastyles
So let's say you feel some type of way, so you just keep on not delivering all your mail, right? Let's say you doing that puts the station in a predicament not to be able to get it all delivered. What if I delivered that mail the next day? Or what if I did it later that day and the people who asked me, hey man, the mail late, man. What happened? I say, hey man, ah this mail was assigned to so-and-so name, first name, last name.
00:31:18
Blacknight
Hmm.
00:31:19
lastyles
So you know what I'm saying?
00:31:19
Blacknight
Hmm.
00:31:20
lastyles
And they keep on just not delivering your stuff.
00:31:22
lastyles
They keep on just bringing it back to the office. So I don't know. You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna do my best. I come out here, get it done. But if you see that, you know what I'm saying? Oh boy, or old girl, just intentionally not wanna deliver your mail.
00:31:33
lastyles
The next day, same thing again. Hey, bring your stuff back again, man. You know what I'm saying? Who did that? So and so, first name, last name. Keep on, now when you get out there, they start questioning you about it. Like, Hey man, I was told that you, are you saw and so on, so, so, so, first thing, last thing, while you keep on breaking our mail back and not delivering our mail. Now we getting all of our stuff late, my bills late, somebody's going to get my mail with her. You have a problem with me saying that, wouldn't you? You should, but it's true though. But if I told hundreds of people that you just intentionally not delivering that mail, cause you feel some type of way, you will have a problem with that. But you're doing it though.
00:32:11
lastyles
You're doing it though. You know what I'm saying? You have behind the mask that that the people who you're not servicing don't know that it's you. But what if they knew it was you?
00:32:21
Blacknight
Correct.
00:32:23
lastyles
You would have an issue with it, with me telling them that you did it, but you did it.
00:32:28
Blacknight
You did it, right?
00:32:30
Blacknight
No, I mean.
00:32:30
lastyles
But you did it, but you have a problem with that.
00:32:32
lastyles
Now I'm not saying, like again, that's all. You know what I'm saying? Neither here nor there, you know what I'm saying? I wouldn't do that, but y'all gotta think about it like that. There's hundreds of people that's not getting a possible mail because of you just not delivering your assignment. I'm not even talking about nothing extra, nothing over. I'm not talking about you doing no 15, 16 hours, no, none of that. You know what I'm saying? But the job is what the job is, man. There's no special treatment for nobody.
00:33:01
lastyles
No disrespect, Nintendo. When special circumstances come up between the union and management, we'll try to work with you with special circumstances, you know what I'm saying? See what can be done within your allotted amount of time as far as you and your first month, your second month, your third month. OK, let's say there's something in the contract or something in paperwork
Commitment to Service and Customer Impact
00:33:20
lastyles
that allows for some type of leeway. You know what I'm saying? This person got a previous schedule.
00:33:24
lastyles
um um day off or week off or a family plan vacation but they they they forgot to tell somebody or somehow they felt the loophole okay listen it was that week open is can we make that happen is it something that we can work around to and and we'll do that you're having a bad day today just found out you lost somebody in your family so and so hey you know what we can what we can do we'll do a change of schedule or whatever case also so and so it's things things we can do Man, you bringing back hours and hours of mail ain't nothing that most people can work around. Especially if you if you're stationed and you doing it continuously. But this is the thing, you not even coming back early and leaving early. You still trying to get paid your eight hours or paid your eight hours in overtime while bringing back hours of mail.
00:34:07
Blacknight
and well And what we got, this is what you got to understand. We do the job because of the people that we service. Those people are looking for us to bring those goods of service that they that they need. So somebody grandmothers out there waiting on her medication.
00:34:30
Blacknight
Start saying that's your grandmother. How would you feel if your grandmother wouldn't get her medication? How would you feel if you ordered your daughter, your son, something, and they're not gonna get the package that you're supposed to bring them? So you gotta start having pride in what you do. Stop taking it as, oh, this is just, oh, this is just paper.
00:34:52
Blacknight
you got to understand you you are standing in the place of somebody who held a door open for you to be able to call yourself a mail carrier that should mean something to you handsomely forward correct so
00:35:06
lastyles
andin't get handsome and get paid handsomely to a degree right now coming in the door with no experience in in the federal system to do it. And again, I don't mean to sound some type of way, adding to coffee. Cause I don't want nobody to buy think I'm picking on them and picking on, or I'm saying that you got to do a pivot, do the pivot anyway. Cause I ain't that type of person that's going to do no pivot. That's assigned to me as no pivot type of deal and stuff like that. But to say that you got an attitude cause something changed and now you're intentionally trying to go slow or trying to mess with the mail or trying to, because so you can push it back until you can bring back mail. That ain't, that ain't cool.
00:35:44
Blacknight
At all your your your heart basically what you're doing Would be like taking money out of your own bank account and then actually said why you ain't got it in there
00:35:58
Blacknight
The company needs to always be profitable. It needs to always be successful. I'm not going to tell you management is always going to be able to say that they're doing that, right? So I'm not finished sitting here and say, okay, we can hold management accountable for making our business not as profitable, but we ain't going to to that same standard. The standard is the standard. We should all come to work to make the company great. That's the standard.
00:36:28
Blacknight
The mission each and every day is to delivery every piece of meal package every day. That is every man and woman who touched that property on Monday. That is their job.
Roles and Responsibilities in USPS
00:36:40
Blacknight
You should be exhausted to a point of no recovery. Cause that is your job for management to close to custodians, to carriers, to the people who's putting mail on the belt, to the truck drivers, to the point the the pilot. That is the mission.
00:36:58
Blacknight
You cannot allow the fight to stop what you supposed to do. The mission is the mission. We accomplish the mission each and every day. And every day we get a little bit better. Some days we have some setbacks, but it does not compromise the mission at any point. I get mad in the morning, some mornings, but it does not compromise from what I, what my job is.
00:37:24
Blacknight
I'm pretty sure everybody get irritated at some point of their shift. The mission is to get everything delivered to the American people.
00:37:35
Blacknight
That's the mission.
00:37:35
lastyles
And for for clarification, to add to to coffee, let's let's also clarify the newcomers.
00:37:43
Blacknight
Yes. Yes.
00:37:44
lastyles
PSCs and PTFs, you're there to assist the regular clerks and the regular carriers.
00:37:51
Blacknight
Yes.
00:37:51
lastyles
I'll break it down in simplest terms.
00:37:54
lastyles
Let's say it's one carrier for one zip code or one carrier for one block. Let's say it's coffee, it's the carrier. Coffee has whatever his schedule is. Coffee's supposed to have an eight hour day. Coffee got like 10 hours today. Your job as the PTF is to come in and take that two hours to put coffee on time so he's not overburdened. It don't help coffee if you come in, take the two hours, but bring an hour of it back. But he out there doing another eight.
00:38:28
lastyles
The CCA and PTF is there to assist the regulars in helping deliver mail that will be an overburden to them, right? That's their title.
00:38:39
lastyles
City Carrier Assistance is that is the is the assist the city with assistance, right?
00:38:40
Blacknight
Yes.
00:38:46
lastyles
If the city needs help because they don't have enough people by whatever means or by whatever standards, right? Part-time flexible, the same thing. One of the original terms before CCA that turned into CCA and then kind of turned back into PTS, which is crazy because then they just brought back CCA's again anyway.
00:39:03
Blacknight
yeah
00:39:03
lastyles
So now CCA's and PTF's, are are they they both is a thing right now, ah somehow.
00:39:09
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? So anywho, the difference is again, PTF is just a CCA who has career benefits out the gate. Don't mean you have regular status. Clarify, you're not a regular, you have career benefits, meaning you got health insurance and all that stuff out the gate that a CCA doesn't.
00:39:18
Blacknight
Come on, talk about it now. Talk about it.
00:39:28
lastyles
That don't mean you are regular, that don't mean you have a route, that don't mean you got a rotating off day, that don't mean you got a skill, that don't mean none of that. You just got career benefits, that's it. You still a CCA. If don't nobody explain it or hasn't explained it, you still a CCA.
00:39:43
lastyles
Right. You just get health better health insurance than the actual CCA.
00:39:43
Blacknight
Correct.
00:39:46
lastyles
You get some dental better than CCA. You get your TSP stuff out'll out the gate better than the CCA, but you still a CCA.
00:39:50
Blacknight
it
00:39:53
Blacknight
and Right.
00:39:55
lastyles
That's why you can still get to sit to any station and stuff like that. that did None of that part changed, right? And hopefully that'll clarify within the new contract. Uh, well then I'm hoping that they put that in a new contract because BTS wasn't in the contract ah prior, but you're there to, to assist. If you come there and you're not even completing your assistance and what we got you for. You know what I'm saying? If you had to move and me and coffee said, Hey man, we're going to come over there and help you move. But then me and coffee, when you was lifting the sofa, coffee was laying on the sofa.
00:40:27
lastyles
with Doritos all on his shirt. He was like, hey, man, what is coffee here for, man? We done bought lunch, and he done ate lunch with everybody. He done paid everybody already, but dude ain't even doing nothing. Called him, man, I took two lamps out already.
00:40:38
lastyles
Man, we moving to two floor house. You ain't took out nothing but two lamps, but technically he did some work.
00:40:40
Blacknight
You're right.
00:40:44
lastyles
But did he do what his fair share was? No, he didn't. So what do we got coffee for? Because anybody else could have took out those two lamps.
00:40:54
lastyles
And it's it still would have got done. so That's just been my my right with PTFs lately or some of the PTFs, not all. um with In the midst of session, if they think that they regulars will carry yourself around or attempt to carry themselves like they regulars in that in that fashion. You gotta have to put in some work and show me some work before I even look at you like that. No disrespect. But you can't be a CCA and I give people their props. I mean, he fired. I gave her her props.
00:41:21
lastyles
We took bets, me and the closest supervisor took bets. He took a bet on a guy. I took a bet on her. I'm winning the bet. Or I was winning the bet. She killing this dude. Now going in the long stretch like it's a Greyhound race. Now he done came back and passed her.
00:41:40
lastyles
Which is crazy because he's only past her because of her attitude. You know what I'm saying?
00:41:43
Blacknight
Right right right.
00:41:45
lastyles
It's crazy to see that you just let your attitude super, um like to a nu to the next level affect your work performance.
00:41:55
lastyles
It's not that you to do actually better. You just carry around an attitude on your shoulders and you let that affect your work performance.
00:42:03
lastyles
So that's just been what I'm dealing with in in the past week, man. And I sometimes take that personally. You know what I'm saying?
00:42:09
Blacknight
i mean
00:42:10
Blacknight
i i think it ah
00:42:10
lastyles
but But again, it's the job.
00:42:13
lastyles
I took a personal in the military too when they started letting in everybody and talking about how we got to be more in tune with their feelings. And I said, nah, this is just something different, man. I'm going to get up out of here. And that's why I didn't renew my contract with the military.
00:42:25
lastyles
I let that go. Now I'm good. Go ahead, coffee. Oh, you busy?
00:42:29
Blacknight
I mean, I think it should be personal, man.
00:42:32
lastyles
Coughing them tickets mic off, y'all.
00:42:37
Blacknight
i think If this how you feed your family, it should be personal. And I'm not saying that we're not going to have days that they don't represent who we are as a whole. That's cool. You have, we all have some bad days. We all have some days that we, I like to call them um challenging days. Don't believe nobody got a bad day. If you woke up and your family was alive, I'm calling it a bad day. I call it you having challenges today. My problem with that is.
00:43:10
Blacknight
is a standard. And if you're not meeting a standard, it is our job to tell you, you're not meeting a standard right now.
00:43:19
lastyles
And just not that. Let's add, because we don't want to seem like we're picking on somebody.
00:43:19
Blacknight
That's correct, correct, correct.
00:43:23
lastyles
It's also our job to ask you, why do you think that you're not? You know what I'm saying? what What do you think is doing going wrong?
00:43:28
Blacknight
Correct.
00:43:30
lastyles
what What can we do to help you get back into standards or become a better carrier or a better PSE or a better whatever your job function is?
00:43:35
Blacknight
and
00:43:39
Blacknight
right
00:43:40
lastyles
We ain't just here picking on you.
00:43:42
lastyles
But what can we do to help you?
00:43:43
Blacknight
Right.
00:43:49
lastyles
Um, so yeah, that's, that's been, that's been my great man.
00:43:55
Blacknight
I think I I I think we just did 2.5 right now.
00:44:05
lastyles
Oh yeah. I'm, I'm gonna look at the guy dang time.
00:44:05
Blacknight
I mean, my my closing remarks on this is We want you here. Do you want to be here? Simple question. Don't don't confuse coming to work and actually working. It's two different things. Everybody show up to the building, but everybody don't show up when it's time to go to work. Which one are you? You're a person who just punch in and then just get your money and go and leave it worse than him what it is.
00:44:45
Blacknight
Leave every situation. When you come to anything in life, this is just a life lesson that got a lot to do with, with the post office, leave it better than you, than you found it. That's the best thing. Leave it better than you found it. And if you can do that, we're going to be good. But a lot of the, you know, stop acting like you know everything. Cause you know, a long time ago, you don't know everything.
00:45:14
Blacknight
And that just, that just where it's at. That's a fool from thought. You already know this your boy Black Knight. That's your boy LA. We're here to get you through these tough, tough, grinding streets in United States Postal Service. And that's what we going to do. That's what you got to form LA.
00:45:34
lastyles
right ah And let let me again, clarification. So on people think we pick, I said this, I don't know if it was on a previous podcast or the one before. When I said, use your tools.
00:45:46
lastyles
If you feel like you got an issue, if you feel like something's not right, if you feel like something's off, if you feel like you can do better, if you got a personal issue, even if you got a personal issue, some at home, some with a family member, kid, loved one, whatever the case is, talk to your trainer, talk to your safety captain, talk to your steward.
00:46:06
Blacknight
Yes.
00:46:07
lastyles
If you got that type of rapport with your desk, whether it's the supervisor or the manager,
00:46:11
lastyles
Talk to them. Amen. I feel like, you know what I'm saying? This ain't working for me. Something not working. I feel like this not right. I feel like, you know what I'm saying? I don't know. When I'm on the street, I keep getting confused with this. They there to help you.
00:46:24
lastyles
Once you're by yourself, you're not really by yourself. You are by yourself when you own a route, only in the in the simplest form of that's how routes are. There's one person to a route, and unless it's broken up, but it's you're not just on the street delivering mail with a team of people, delivering mail, like you're just two or three of y'all on the block.
00:46:38
Blacknight
ah right
00:46:41
lastyles
It's you by yourself, but you're not by yourself. Something wrong, talk to someone, right? If you got a family situation, if it's just a ah part a real personal situation, right?
00:46:53
lastyles
They have ah something called EAP. Ask someone about EAP. Well, I'm telling you about EAP. You know what I'm saying? You need some type of counseling. You feel like you need a therapist, ah anything of that nature, because you got something very emotional or or mentally going on with you that's throwing you off and affecting you and your personal life in that work. Contact EAP.
00:47:18
lastyles
Contact EAP. You know what I'm saying? I go into this and into a .52 later this week. But that's how you get that help. Don't let that whatever that is or short term thing, whatever that is, cost you a possible career to cost you a job to cost you how you put food on your table right now or pay your bills right now or something that could be long term for you or short term for you or just a It's a hustle right now, it's a grind right now, we're along with me doing some other things.
00:47:47
lastyles
Don't let those those minute things cost you a possible opportunity. Not unless you just really don't want the opportunity, then you just don't want the opportunity, right?
00:47:52
Blacknight
Yes.
00:47:57
lastyles
So I'm not saying that this job or like any other job or career is for anyone or everyone. Right? but i What I'm realizing um in my later years ah of my five and a half year tenure is that maybe the job not for everyone. I used to think that they there's a very high chance because the job is so smooth as far as carrying goes, at least to me, that it almost should be for anyone if as long as you can walk male.
00:48:30
lastyles
But in my later years, it's like, nah, it's not for everyone. Only for the simple fact that you gotta to be somewhere strong mentally to be in the post office, especially in this current state. right um And only one can really um know that, choose that, is is the individual. You know what I'm saying? You gotta make your decisions that you gotta to make at the end of the day, just like everyone else.
00:48:59
lastyles
But let's not act like ah you're by yourself and you're alone or someone's necessarily picking on you unless they really, unless they really are picking on you. You know what I'm saying? But wherever you drop short or you fell in that there is assistance for y'all. Be it PTF, CCA, PSC, whatever your function is. um For those of you who don't know, a PSC is like a clerk. ah They assist in distribution and they fill in to assist the clerks in between the clerk's hours.
00:49:28
lastyles
They typically work split shifts, can bounce around to different stations and things of the nature that regulars can't outside of pool clerks. CCAs and PTFs are like regular carriers in training until they become an actual regular carrier. um And they can jump from route to route, bounce around routes or bounce around stations throughout their district ah to help with mail delivery in other stations, things that regular carriers can do.
00:49:55
lastyles
Um, that's, that's the assistance that they provide. Um, and that's, that's not, that's not, fear so what would you feel like if you had a secretary who didn't, who didn't, uh, let's say you had a secretary who didn't secretary. so say You come in, she ain't never got your calls down. She ain't taking no voice messages for you. You come in like anybody calls. She's like, was five people called? Uh, was it important? Yeah, it was important. well Who called? I can't remember. Did you write it down? Nah, I didn't have time for that.
00:50:26
lastyles
and my my my My son had something going on on the phone or whatever. He had a paper cut, so i didn't I didn't get no messages. You know what I'm saying? At what point in time you go, man, you really not assisting me, man.
00:50:36
Blacknight
yep
00:50:38
lastyles
like I'm not i' supposed to be better off, or the system is supposed to be better off with you and me. it's It's still a team dynamic, though. You know what I'm saying? that Batman had Robin Steele.
00:50:50
lastyles
Robin does grow up to become his own Batman. You know what I'm saying? Robin was cold on his own. He became Nightwing on his own.
00:50:56
Blacknight
Yep.
00:50:57
lastyles
yeah mean ah To a degree, he was cold. Solo. But for a period of time, he was a Robin.
00:51:01
Blacknight
All right.
00:51:04
lastyles
And it was Batman and Robin. You know what I'm saying? And it's a team dynamic. It's ah it's a dynamic duo. We got regulars in CCA. He's a dynamic duo. We gonna get this mail done together. You know what I'm saying? We gonna service these customers together. We gonna push the post office forward together. Things that I can't do that I'm not allowed to do by contract. You are. Things that you can't do and what you lack an experience I make up for. You get what I'm saying?
00:51:27
Blacknight
Correct.
00:51:28
lastyles
I'm here to give you the information so then you can use that and fill in the gaps that I can't, that the contract won't let me do, or management won't let me do, or or the union won't let me do. That's what you for. And I'm here to give you the experience to make you a me without a me but with my knowledge, but in those gaps. So it's almost like it's two me's or two senior carriers. You know what I'm saying? You got the young one and i and um'm I'm the knowledge. You the muscle, I'm the brain. You know what I'm saying? But together we gonna get it done together. So go get coffee.
00:51:57
Blacknight
They, they got to understand, man, success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.
00:52:08
Blacknight
That's all it is. It seems to be something I think what it is, if you come in and looking at something as is very impossible, it's going to be impossible to do. If you come in with a bad mindset of, oh, I'm upset this is bad.
00:52:23
Blacknight
Everything you see is going to be bad because that's, you're going to get what you're, what you keep focusing on. Stop focusing on cause today is not what you supposed to, it should have been in your mind.
00:52:36
Blacknight
You're not in a position or have the knowledge base yet to be able to change that.
00:52:44
lastyles
But you will.
00:52:45
Blacknight
You will though.
00:52:47
lastyles
You will.
00:52:47
Blacknight
in due time.
00:52:50
lastyles
And you asking those questions and leaning on your resources is what's going to propel you further than me. At some point in time, you should to be better than me.
00:52:57
Blacknight
Yes.
00:53:00
lastyles
I'm going to start declining at a point in time. I know that. My job is to get you the next generation prepared to carry or out carry me because you're going to need that knowledge and you're going to be that, that, that, um,
Support and Growth in USPS Community
00:53:14
lastyles
that anchor for the next person that's coming behind you. Nobody here wants to see you fail, man. You know what I'm saying?
00:53:19
Blacknight
at all.
00:53:22
lastyles
Coffee won't hit retirement. I want my retirement. The generation after that won our retirement, the people before us did what they had to do to make sure that the top retirement was there for us.
00:53:24
Blacknight
Yes.
00:53:32
Blacknight
Correct.
00:53:33
lastyles
So we got to pay it forward.
00:53:34
lastyles
It's not, it's not, it's not that type of job where Someone wants to see you do bad or wants to see you not make it. It's not that type of job.
00:53:45
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? We want to see everybody make it. Ask questions. Lean on that shoulder. Get the information and you're going to get to where you need to get to in due time.
00:53:57
Blacknight
Yes, it's cold. I'm talking about cold with it.
00:53:57
lastyles
In due time, you're going to be cold with it.
00:54:06
lastyles
You gonna be able to go to any route, any station, any whatever the case. Once you make regular, you gonna feel comfortable. Hey, I'll take a route there. I'll take a route here. I'll bid on this route, whatever the case is. Cause I can do mountain. I can do walking. I can do businesses. I can do stairs. I can do whatever. I can do cold. I can do high. I can do, I can do whatever.
00:54:23
lastyles
I can case any route now because I done got used to to how routes go with this than the other and I can whatever the case is you're you're gonna be cold with it but right now you you almost like a baby in the post office if you anything less than 90 days is a certified infant anything less than the 90 days you a certified infant man there's a lot that you haven't done and even right now do you know do you know how often we went to other stations when we were CCAs
00:54:37
Blacknight
hey Correct.
00:54:51
lastyles
With no choice in the matter. How often we went to other stations. A lot of y'all not even going to other stations in y'all first 60. I have been to, I don't know how many stations in my first 60 days. For whole days, sometimes I'm like, damn, did they get rid of me? This my not my station? You know what I'm saying? Did I get moved?
00:55:10
Blacknight
Right, is this my new home now?
00:55:12
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? I don't, I don't know. Then sometimes your station get full. They say, you know what I'm saying? You report from the station from now on. And then, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes they might call you back two weeks later, or three weeks later, a month later and you back at, you don't know where you at. Now I'm not saying that I liked that system, but that was the system. But what I can say is that made me cold though. You know what I'm saying? That made me cold. And I got it in my head. Once I got in my head as a CCA that you have no schedule.
00:55:41
Blacknight
at all.
00:55:42
lastyles
Right.
00:55:43
lastyles
You have no schedule.
00:55:47
lastyles
Once I got that in my head and and and I made, uh, I don't know what how long I had been there and I had made my, uh, whatever time that I can get 12 and I have no skill. Once I got that in my head, I can get 12 any day.
00:56:00
lastyles
Cause I was in during COVID I get 12 any day. And I got no schedule. I got a higher piece of mine. My irritation levels dropped.
00:56:12
lastyles
it became harder for me to get irritated. Once I realized my position and talking to some regulars and talking to the union and like, dang, I didn't, I didn't kind of know I signed up for this, but now that I'm here, this is what, what it is.
00:56:26
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? So now I can't really feel like somebody played me because it's in black and white. You know what I'm saying? Okay. I just got to make the best out the situation.
00:56:32
Blacknight
Yep.
00:56:35
lastyles
Once I got that, I didn't take things personal. I'll come in, you got me for 12. At any point in time, if I get less than 12, it's a good day. At any point in time, if I didn't get to sit to another station, it's a good day.
00:56:47
Blacknight
Yeah.
00:56:47
lastyles
Because that's what I'm expecting every day that I come in now.
00:56:50
Blacknight
Oh.
00:56:52
lastyles
If you come in expecting the best every day, I don't know what to tell you. You should come in expect expecting the worst. The worst is you got 12 and you might get to sit to another station. That's the worst.
00:57:04
lastyles
Expect that and then if you don't get that every day will be a good day to you or a decent day There we go
00:57:12
Blacknight
I tell everybody this, the way I grew up in the post office, I grew up like with a Wolfpack, like it was certain things and certain characteristics that you had to have at that time. I'm not going to say it was all right. I ain't going to say everything was good. I ain't going to say everything was bad, but you had to have, you had to understand where you was, right? You had to have a strong bond with everybody that you're working with because you're going to need to lean on them at some point at some time.
00:57:42
Blacknight
Loyalty was a must. It's us over everybody. That's i just where it was. i i If he was good or bad, I had to deal with you. You parted you part of the pack, but that's just what it was. We had to have good communication. Sometime I told you, you trash today. Sometimes, I don't know why you keep playing around like LAC. I got to come out here and help your trash tale, but hey, you're part of the pack.
00:58:05
Blacknight
You know what I'm saying? We got a st strong bond. We got to tell you about it. And you had to be flexible. You had to be flexible. Some days you're going to have to throw packages. Some days you just got to carry mail. Some days you got to do it all. But you had to be flexible. You had to understand your your role in the team is not that great. I don't know that much. I will one day, but right now I'm part of just, hey, I'm the grunt work. I do all the grunt work and it is what it is.
00:58:35
Blacknight
Would you will ascend to a hierarchy in the Wolfpack right now as a PTF or a PSC, you got to understand the role that you have.
00:58:43
lastyles
Thank you.
00:58:45
Blacknight
We all have had it. You're no better than me. I'm no better than you at one time.
00:58:52
lastyles
And somebody, if y'all thinking this is tough, just add on the keep going coffee.
00:58:52
Blacknight
Go ahead.
00:58:57
lastyles
Cause I want to miss this part that you on right now.
00:58:59
Blacknight
All right. Go ahead.
00:59:01
lastyles
My generation had to do what you doing for two years. How long you had to do a coffee as a CCA?
00:59:07
Blacknight
had to do with authority. but three
00:59:10
lastyles
Before coffee generation, people was doing it for five and more. If you feeling this bad for something that you've been doing for four weeks and five weeks and y'all got a possible conversion coming up on six, seven, eight months or a year at the most, we did it for years.
00:59:13
Blacknight
Yes.
00:59:27
lastyles
For years. That's not necessarily to make you feel better. That's just to say everybody has they dues. This is you paying your dues. All of your regular that you seen had to pay those dues and they did it for longer than what you're going to do it as.
00:59:39
Blacknight
Yes.
00:59:41
Blacknight
You got to, yeah.
00:59:42
lastyles
so you can get down to a year.
00:59:44
lastyles
Last year, people was getting converted in six months and three months. People before us paved the way so that could happen.
00:59:49
Blacknight
Yes.
00:59:52
Blacknight
You got to understand,
00:59:53
lastyles
Go
Work-life Balance and Financial Growth
00:59:54
lastyles
ahead, coffee.
00:59:54
Blacknight
you got to understand for you to cry about something that somebody else endured for a long time. It's telling me that you're not grateful that you're here.
01:00:04
Blacknight
Like when people, and when i when I wanted to cry and somebody told me they would had been, they had been a CCA for eight years,
01:00:16
Blacknight
I was like, no you stayed? So for you to have one year or a year and and two months or whatever the months are, i somebody had it tougher than you.
01:00:29
Blacknight
And they endured just to keep this, this opportunity open as an opportunity. Some people going to love it. Some people ain't going to like it, but this is all I can tell you. Every time you cast a check, you're saying that you're okay with the position that you're in. If you want to tell me you don't like it, don't cast the check. Or if you don't like it, cash your last paycheck and say, Hey, I'm going to go somewhere else.
01:01:00
Blacknight
Well, all the things are bad about the post office. Let me tell you this. I know worse companies.
01:01:09
Blacknight
Because the people at UPS said they wish they was at the post office. The people at Amazon said they wish they was at the post office. The people at FedEx said they wish they had the post office.
01:01:22
Blacknight
You're in a position where somebody else wants to be.
01:01:25
Blacknight
We ain't the greatest company. Go ahead.
01:01:26
lastyles
And on a side note with that coffee, the more y'all that's in, the less money we make as far as the regulars go.
01:01:34
Blacknight
Correct.
01:01:36
lastyles
You're there so I can make, so the the company can pay me less money by not giving me as much overtime.
01:01:37
Blacknight
Correct.
01:01:44
lastyles
So if you leave, I make more money.
01:01:46
Blacknight
Yes.
01:01:48
lastyles
So it's not hate. It's not, just to say that I want the money. Some people do, some people don't. i saying But you're there to alleviate overtime so they can so they can pay us less as a nonprofit organization.
01:02:02
Blacknight
Absolutely.
01:02:03
lastyles
But the more y'all that don't make it in leave, then that opens up more overtime for me and coffee and then we able to make more money.
01:02:10
Blacknight
And we want you guys to stay.
01:02:12
Blacknight
You do, you gotta, you gotta understand that.
01:02:13
lastyles
Correct.
01:02:14
lastyles
I want a good medium. I want y'all to be here so y'all can get some money, but I also want to make money.
01:02:16
Blacknight
Yes.
01:02:20
Blacknight
Correct.
01:02:20
lastyles
You know what I'm saying?
01:02:21
Blacknight
I don't want to go back to them days or 14 hours.
01:02:21
lastyles
I like money.
01:02:24
Blacknight
I don't want to do that. I want to raise my children. I want my children to know who I am. I want to go today football and basketball. game I don't want to always have to go everywhere in my uniform.
01:02:25
lastyles
Correct.
01:02:36
Blacknight
I don't need everybody to know where I work at, but that's the only way some of us parents are being able to go to our kids' events because we have to wear our uniform because we're working from 6 a.m. until 7.30 p.m. and then we got to school and then we got to walk them into the PTA and be smelling like outside because we cause you guys just said, man, I don't want it no more. We want you to be here. The question is, do you want to be here?
01:03:05
Blacknight
I like going home with the when the sun up.
01:03:06
lastyles
Correct and right.
01:03:09
lastyles
Correct.
01:03:11
lastyles
Excuse me. um and and And with that. um Man, listen, for a job coming in that you can you can come in with, with no background in, no experience in, no education in.
01:03:29
lastyles
And I think they all come in making like $23 an hour right now. And I think you so um if I'm not mistaken, you still get your six month 50 cent raise and your one year 50 cent raise and then you still get your one year
01:03:33
Blacknight
Max.
01:03:41
lastyles
contract raise so in your first year you can go from 53 i mean from 23 my bad to about to maybe 25 because your 50 cent and 50 cent is already a dollar and then your regular raise is going to be a percent raise which because you are already in your 20s probably could be another dollar
01:03:49
Blacknight
facts facts
01:03:59
lastyles
going to like 75 cents or something. So you're going to get it like $2 almost in your first year. So coming in with no background, no experience, no knowledge, no nothing, and almost make, you can go up to $25 in your first year and become a regular at that point in time with all the benefits that you get.
01:04:12
lastyles
Like I don't, I don't know what else y'all want really. You know what I'm saying? Um, but we do got to be together, post a blue podcast. Y'all make sure to hit the like share and subscribe button on the postal blue podcast. We are a community, a currently building community.
01:04:22
Blacknight
Yes, yes, yes.
01:04:26
Blacknight
yes
01:04:27
lastyles
You know what I'm saying?
01:04:28
lastyles
And we're supposed to be here for each other and we're also trying to build that community and get that knowledge out. Things like this will hopefully let y'all guys have a better day by getting the knowledge. You know what I'm saying? Never feel lucky by yourself. Use your tools and just throw it out there.
01:04:40
lastyles
Post a blue podcast on all streaming services.
01:04:42
Blacknight
All of them.
01:04:45
lastyles
Make sure you also check the ah Postal Blue Podcast community on X, formerly known as Twitter. We also are on YouTube under Amazing Studios. You can catch all our podcasts for other shows as well under Amazing Studios on YouTube. You know what I'm saying? um But with would that said, I had to get that out of the way, oh just in case I didn't say it before. You know what I'm saying? We appreciate y'all listening.
01:05:09
lastyles
We are a little bit past the one hour mark. So let me let I got to interject and make sure y'all know We y'all listen to this what letters would y'all listen to this at on and where you can listen to further? You ain't saying?
01:05:21
Blacknight
Hit that subscribe button too.
01:05:23
Blacknight
Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe.
01:05:24
lastyles
Yeah, a lot.
01:05:26
lastyles
Shit, Jaren is Karen. All you regulars that has issues with your PTFs, you should be sending them this. All you clerks that got issues with y'all PSCs, y'all should be sending them this. You know what I'm saying? Again, although we said PTFs and CCAs, a lot of this also refers to PSCs who are the CCA and PTFs of their craft, which would be regular clerks, right?
01:05:47
lastyles
You there to alleviate the extra workload from your regulars.
01:05:52
Blacknight
Please.
01:05:55
Blacknight
and And I want you guys to understand this.
01:05:55
lastyles
Right?
01:05:56
lastyles
Go to your golf.
01:06:01
Blacknight
It may sound harsh, but it's tough love. It's not us beating up on you. It's us, you know what I'm saying? You know how when your mama used to get you up out of the bed when you're about to go to school and she rubbing the Vaseline and the lotion on your face real hard and you're like, oh my God, mama.
01:06:21
Blacknight
She was just trying to make, she was just trying to prune you and make sure you look your best. That's what we trying to do. We're just pruning you and making sure you can work your best, that you can get paid your best. Therefore you can have the best. That's all we trying to do. This is all love. Never hate. Got too much love in me to hate you.
01:06:41
lastyles
look And I told people, look you can look at it like, when you go to college and you want to get a sorority or fraternity, there's a hazing phase. And you going to be in that hazing phase for whatever amount of time until the hazing is done.
01:06:53
Blacknight
Correct.
01:06:53
Blacknight
Sigma's.
01:06:53
lastyles
You're not going to like some things.
01:06:54
lastyles
You you might not like streaking.
01:06:57
lastyles
ah streaking you like getting the kings and being in precarious situations and suspicious activities. And they got you sneaking into whatever they got you sneaking in and taking this and taking that and whatever the case they got you doing, doing your hazing face. But that's you paying the dudes to be in, right? Same thing if you go to sports or like basketball and you got a red shirt, that's that person paying they dude. You can't come in here and thank you, me.
01:07:23
lastyles
You ain't me. That's no disrespect. You know what I'm saying? But I red shirted it already. Everybody else, even the worst person you think on a team done red shirted already. We had to sit out while somebody else not get no type of clock, not get no play time, not get no type of stats on the board. And people looking at it is like, man, you ever going to get in the game? We all had to do that.
01:07:41
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:07:41
lastyles
We all red shirted, we ain't got no route, we ain't got no case, we ain't got no whatever the case is.
01:07:46
lastyles
You done put your stuff in the tub, put it at somebody's case, it ain't your case. Now you wonder why they move your stuff, because it ain't your case. You could go put your stuff in a locker or something, you know what I'm saying? You try to get in the game, man.
01:07:58
lastyles
You in the game, but you're not in the game. You're still a red shirt, you don't got regular status shit, but you'll get there, but you got to
01:08:05
Blacknight
You of the
Acknowledging Employee Contributions and Challenges
01:08:06
lastyles
pay your dues.
01:08:06
Blacknight
team.
01:08:07
Blacknight
You just don't have a position on the team yet.
01:08:07
lastyles
Correct, you can't just come in
01:08:10
lastyles
and and think you just starting like y'all come in some of y'all this again it's not to everybody's not to all y'all let me make sure I say that. pilot Apologies if I came off like I'm talking to every PTF or every CCA or every PSC that's coming in doing it because a lot of them not doing that. A fair amount of them is not doing it. Let me go im not not say a lot. A fair amount of them is not doing it. Some of y'all come in y'all and y'all got decent attitudes, some good attitudes, and y'all carrying it the way you're carrying it. You know what I'm saying? Y'all just making it work from day to day. You don't know if you're gonna stay or not, but y'all doing
01:08:43
lastyles
You know, doing the best y'all can with what y'all got. You know what I'm saying? And we appreciate them. We appreciate y'all. If don't nobody said you, you, you hearing it here on the postal blue podcast, for those of you that's coming in with a decent to good attitude, I'm not even saying a good attitude to great attitude, a decent, decent mean, man, I could quit tomorrow, but I'll be there today.
01:08:52
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:09:03
lastyles
And then you leave like, you know what? It wasn't a bad day today. I still might quit tomorrow, but then you go in the next day. I'm like, man, you know what? I still might quit tomorrow now, but let's see what today is.
01:09:14
lastyles
And you just on a date that a day today, you know what I'm saying, in your head.
01:09:17
Blacknight
Daily day, basically.
01:09:18
lastyles
I still appreciate you too, man. Listen, if i ain't nobody else saying it, I do appreciate you.
01:09:20
Blacknight
Day to day.
01:09:25
lastyles
Your work is noticed. Um, and that's, that, that's from us.
01:09:27
Blacknight
What you do counts.
01:09:30
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? When and we, in the postal loop podcast, we represent the whole community.
01:09:30
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:09:34
lastyles
So if ain't nobody saying it, you see you hearing it here from the community, we appreciate you. Parks, PSEs, uh, the PST clerks, I should say the PTF and the CCA.
01:09:45
lastyles
We appreciate y'all.
01:09:46
Blacknight
Hey, we see you, we hear you, and we thank you, but the ones who Little rough around the edges. Don't worry about it. We're going to stand you up, get you right. You know what I'm saying? We know one day you're going to have the same problem with ah with a PTF or a PSC or a CCA when you're in our position. This is why we give you this tough love so you can keep it going. When you part of us, you always going to be part.
01:10:11
Blacknight
as if you're retired. That means if you're active or you're about to retire, you're part of the family. You're part of the Wolfpack. You know what I'm saying? So we got we gotta to keep each other. We gotta prune each other. We gotta to groom each other. And you know, that's all love. it ain't This ain't about tearing you down. It's about building you up.
01:10:31
lastyles
Alright, with that again, we were supposed to have a different topic, but because we got into this, it's had to get out again. This will be what our future episodes be like, right? ah let Let me clarify.
01:10:40
Blacknight
Right.
01:10:44
lastyles
The foundation was letting customers and people know that's new. how we got to where we at currently in the post office. That's what our first episode, New Foundation. The the next couple episodes over the past, over the next couple months, supposed to have been bricks on top of that foundation. So we did the blueprint. New Foundation set the blueprint for how the post office is designed now. The episodes after that was all bricks into the foundation.
01:11:12
lastyles
Right. So there, there's a lot of specific episodes so people can go back when we get into talking about stuff like this and you might hear certain terms, use a certain thing. He was like, they just said article eight and what class on on what is that? You can always go back into our catalog and look up on what's article eight. Y'all have an episode called article eight, call article three, call this, call that, call EAP, call PTFs and CCAs, call whatever the case. So y'all can always go back because going forward,
01:11:40
lastyles
Maybe after like four weeks or so, when we finished landing the bricks, this is going to be our regular episodes where we just come in. Hey, man, what's going on? Was it where everybody's also, Hey, what's going on over the past week? Everybody been good. Everybody got situations. What do you know what I'm saying? What was, and we just going to talk about how our week's been going in the post office. And then we got to do a 0.5 on something specific based on comments that you guys leave on the videos. And that's what a 0.5 is going to come in that.
01:12:05
lastyles
But right now, on these only specific episodes prior, these are bricks being laid for the new foundation so people can get that information. Because a lot of times I go on online for specific things and they don't show that specific information, right? So we gonna lay out things in the contract and make it easy for you guys to find.
01:12:24
lastyles
That's what the bricks being laid is for, you know what I'm saying? But going forward, a lot of, not after today, did today just turned into that type of episode because we was originally supposed to talk about route adjustments and ah consolidated stations, which is a thing really right now.
01:12:26
Blacknight
Yes.
01:12:40
Blacknight
Correct.
01:12:40
lastyles
So we definitely got to get that out for you guys to know what those are, why those things are a thing in the first place.
01:12:47
lastyles
and what you can do and things, that whatever the case. so But we'll talk about that on another, right? So this this got changed for a whole other thing, but you expect more episodes like this, a lot more episodes like this, you know what I'm saying? But we got ladies' bricks for you guys first, because we do have a ton of new people in the post office, a ton of new people in the post office.
01:13:07
Blacknight
And we are the podcast for the people. We are talking about, as LA say, this is what we do. We have these same conversations amongst ourselves, the same way you the rest of the post office have them. And we just want to, you know what I'm saying, be a place where it's safe to come have those conversations there and be able to reflect what the community he is as a whole. And that's the great thing about, you know what I'm saying, post a blue podcast.
01:13:35
Blacknight
We come here to get to you raw. We come get you the bad, ugly, the good. We come put we've come to a place to put it in a platform where you can come and be heard. What we saying is what you feel it. And that's that's the greatest gift that anybody can give you is to say and feel how you feel.
01:13:55
lastyles
um With that, again, we do appreciate you. We thank you for your service.
01:13:59
Blacknight
Yep.
01:14:01
Blacknight
Yes.
01:14:01
lastyles
If nobody at your station said it, we do, we do, we do.
01:14:04
Blacknight
Thank you.
01:14:05
lastyles
We notice you, we see you, we see the hard work.
01:14:08
lastyles
I see the 10s, I see the 11s, I see the 11s and the 1s, I see the 12s on you. I see it.
01:14:12
Blacknight
Yeah.
01:14:15
lastyles
We appreciate that. You know what I'm saying?
01:14:16
Blacknight
Always
01:14:18
lastyles
Um, if nobody ain't said it, we definitely gonna let you know. Uh, and I apologize if nobody
Sacrifices and Struggles of Postal Workers
01:14:23
lastyles
hasn't said it on behalf of the postal, oppos the postal blue service, right? Um, whether it can't, whether it didn't come from your trainer, didn't come from any regulars around you.
01:14:32
lastyles
If it didn't come from, come from your steward, your supervisor, your manager, you heard it here. You know what I'm saying? Don't give up. Um, Life is what life is. As I said it before on this show, you do what you can do and then you can't do what you can't do.
01:14:49
lastyles
Don't let the rest of it stress you. Get the assistance that you need.
01:14:51
Blacknight
correct Yes.
01:14:54
lastyles
Talk to who you need to talk to. Get your peace of mind always make sure when you leave the post office or any job, but specifically the post office that when you go home, you can get your peace of mind that's gone that's going to be like one of the biggest things to me if you leave the post office in the post office current form and you go home to.
01:15:17
lastyles
Not having a peace of mind. That's the opposite of having a peace of mind. You and your man into it. You and your girl into it. The kids doing whatever they want to do. Like babies kiss on. So man, you're going to, you're going to probably quit the post office.
01:15:29
Blacknight
for real yep
01:15:31
lastyles
You're going to be so, so overwhelmed. And again, we did a show called that, right? What was it? Um, new and overwhelmed, right? What was the last, sunday last Saturday, last Sunday? or whatever, I think it released on Monday, new and overwhelmed. yeah that's that That's to the new people.
01:15:48
lastyles
Talk to people. I said in that episode, new and overwhelmed. You know what I'm saying? Talk to people. um But don't don't let don't let that get to you, man. Make sure you go home, you get your peace of mind, whatever that cause, um whatever you gotta do to get that peace of mind is whatever you gonna have to do to get that peace of mind. Cause I had to give up being a ah father when I was a CCA, I gave up being a spouse when I was a CCA.
01:16:13
Blacknight
Talk about it. Preach.
01:16:14
lastyles
I gave up knowing what dinner was, what breakfast was, what lunch was.
01:16:19
lastyles
Sometimes I went home and just fell asleep. i was i I used to get home and my son be asleep because it's so late. And then I'd get up before he'd get up for for school.
01:16:26
Blacknight
Yes.
01:16:28
lastyles
I didn't get up before he got up. I wasn't even seeing my son throughout the day like woke. I wasn't even seeing him. I come home, he's asleep. I wake up and I want to go to work, he's still asleep. That happened for a long period of time.
01:16:40
lastyles
I'm not telling you to do that or telling you to go through that. I'm saying that's a possibility. um I highly doubt you're going to be you out there like we was out there during the time we was doing because they don't ah let let us do that no more over 12s like that.
01:16:44
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:16:50
Blacknight
We hope not.
01:16:54
lastyles
But um again, we used to do Man, some time, like up to like 16 hours in a day. ah and And prior to so us, I don't know how to, so I've been now outside to about 10, 30, 10 something, like almost 11 at night before. I heard it before people done been out to 12 to midnight into one o'clock in the morning before. I and i haven't experienced that.
01:17:19
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? But I've been out to 10 some at night just going to other stations, trying to get mail delivered. And it was wintertime. So you know it's cold. You know what I'm saying?
01:17:26
Blacknight
Code as hell.
01:17:30
lastyles
But you got it, man. Y'all got it. You know what I'm saying? um
01:17:33
Blacknight
That's why we so passionate that we went through, we went through the flyer, we were forged in the flyer. That's why we can give you this tough love because we was there. And when you look at, and when you walk, you walk and pass somebody house and they, you walk by somebody house, they having dinner and then you out here so long, you walking by people house and they cutting all their lights off to go get in the bed for the next day, but you're still delivering mail. We been there. We understand it's tough.
01:18:01
Blacknight
but you will get through it. Just keep walking.
01:18:03
lastyles
Correct. Correct. five Five years ago, when I came through, your family could have been in a situation where you needed that stimulus check and guess who delivered it? At nine and 10 o'clock at night.
01:18:12
Blacknight
Us.
01:18:14
lastyles
What if I would have kept taking your stuff back? When I did not deliver your stuff, you could have been in a situation. I was on your porch with a headlamp and black cargo pants, cause I didn't have no uniform. Well, I would say five years ago, yeah.
01:18:26
lastyles
Cause I would have been in about five months at that time. So I came in May, June, July, August, September, October. that would have been October 2019, five years ago for me, right? um So I was i was um black cargo pants, cause I ain't had no uniform with with a postal vest on that glue in the dark, or I got the highlighted strips on you know what I'm saying?
01:18:45
lastyles
And a headlamp on my head and I was creeping up your stairs with some yak tracks on to put mail in this mailbox. out and I was doing that at Webster station.
01:18:50
Blacknight
For real.
01:18:53
lastyles
I was doing that at Titonia. I was doing it at King. Um, and I was doing it at Hampton a lot, West Milwaukee, some and that don't make sense to you guys. Cause y'all don't know that, but I just named some stations and with those stations come zip, zip codes.
01:19:05
lastyles
So if you lived in them zip codes during COVID, I was delivering y'all mail, man, packages, medicine, and everything, your family ordered and groceries cause they can't go outside.
01:19:08
Blacknight
All day every day.
Pandemic Challenges and Lack of Recognition
01:19:15
lastyles
We was the connecting factor in, in the United States to, to, for people to survive. People's ordering everything through the post office, man. They going to count on you.
01:19:23
Blacknight
All day, every day.
01:19:24
lastyles
They count on you way more than you know, way more than you think. You don't know what's in packages. A lot of people get medicine and things in packages now. You know what I'm saying? We got to get that delivered to the best of our abilities.
01:19:32
Blacknight
I only had one gripe. I only had one gripe.
01:19:37
Blacknight
I only had one gripe during the COVID time. It was the only one gripe I had, man. And I ain't got any, it's not against them, the first responders. Everybody loved the police.
01:19:38
lastyles
Go ahead.
01:19:48
Blacknight
They loved the paramedics, the fire departments, nurses, and doctors. And I'm like, damn, I'm like, so the post office can't get no love. All this stuff we doing, we can't get no, we can't in go to McDonough. They got everybody up there like, hold on buddy. How you, how you think y'all getting them paychecks today up out of here? You know, that was my only gripe then, you know, I, you know, my customers love me and I know a lot of customers love all of us, but you know, that was my only gripe. If it's a first responder to, you to during the COVID time,
01:20:21
Blacknight
If it wasn't medical, it was us. If it wasn't medical, we deliver medication. We're making sure that you're getting your test results. We deliver and test to you. The post office does so much and you as been a member of the post office are doing so much. We thank you. We see you. We love you and continue to do what you do.
01:20:46
lastyles
Look, on to that. I'm gonna go ahead and say this, man. Click off the point. It was disrespectful, man. Y'all disrespected us during COVID.
01:20:57
Blacknight
yes
01:20:59
lastyles
and we we We was disrespected.
01:21:01
lastyles
In my opinion, we had the highest chance of getting COVID out of any of the first responders.
01:21:07
Blacknight
Wow.
01:21:09
lastyles
Any of the first responders. There's no disrespect to them.
01:21:10
Blacknight
a
01:21:14
lastyles
Police going to your house every so often, they driving down the street, whatever, you know what I'm saying? Ain't nobody typically mostly outside, so it shouldn't be the immediate incidents. Um, your nurses is probably right after us, but to me, ain't nobody close. If I got to go to a house.
01:21:30
lastyles
And it's five to six people could be in this house, a parent in two to three kids or whatever the case is. Any of them could have COVID. Any of them could have touched this banister, could have touched that doorbell, could have touched that, whatever the case is.
01:21:36
Blacknight
Yes.
01:21:41
lastyles
Then they got to upstairs and there's three or four more people up there. Then they could have touched that doorbell, could have touched that doorbell. Any of them people could have COVID or the whole house could have COVID. And I have no choice but to go there to deliver their mail, to touch their mailbox or to ring their doorbell or whatever the case for, they packages for their mail.
01:21:56
Blacknight
Every day.
01:21:56
lastyles
And I got to do that all day.
01:21:58
lastyles
And it was people who was being disrespectful, who was still coming outside during the time and trying to walk past you on the sidewalk. Dude, you ain't supposed to be out here, man.
01:22:05
Blacknight
Talking to you.
01:22:06
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? I'm supposed to be out here by myself safely delivering this mail and these packages, man. You ain't supposed to be out here, man. It's like, man, a breakout going to happen. And you don't know the the person that you're going past.
01:22:16
Blacknight
opening up the door still talking to you.
01:22:20
lastyles
We still got to go to businesses. We still, you know what I'm saying? We, we had to go to ah any given house. You could, you could have five to 10 people that could have left anything on that between the sidewalk and that porch for as far as germs or COVID signs of COVID.
01:22:34
lastyles
And you, we you don't have no choice but to walk through it. for every house, every house, five, six, 700 houses or addresses. Then we went down because a lot of people retired. So now you got a guarantee over time. So this was a 12, 13, 14, 15 hour days come from. So now you going from having 700 addresses on your eight hours to now you doubling that to possibly having 1400 addresses. So now that's almost probably like, let's say a thousand that we're going to take out some for duplexes, like a thousand houses during one day.
01:23:04
lastyles
and At any one of them times that you went to the house, you could have got COVID because we don't know how many people don't touch anything on this porch. Anytime.
01:23:14
Blacknight
And we kept coming day after day, day after every day, all day, all night, all day, literally all night.
01:23:17
lastyles
Every day for two years, for two years, we had way more run-ins with possibly getting COVID to anybody else to be.
01:23:31
Blacknight
Oh, hell yeah.
01:23:33
lastyles
Because out of 1,000 addresses, even if you average 200 people or two people per address, it's still over 2,000 people.
01:23:33
Blacknight
Have you had COVID?
01:23:39
lastyles
But in reality, it's like 3,000 people that I had to service during during that one day. And I got to be back tomorrow to do it all over again.
01:23:51
Blacknight
Seven days a week. Seven days a week, people. I want you to understand it. When you're a PTFCCA, that was seven days a week.
01:24:01
lastyles
We were doing like 13, 14 days in a row, doing like 12 to 16 hours a day for 13 to 14 days in a row before getting one off day, then doing it all over again for 13 to 14 days in a row, before getting one day off and doing it all over again.
01:24:19
Blacknight
One. Yes, sir.
01:24:24
lastyles
So for two years, and you not say yo and not to mention when you don't you don't even know that you might have it, that day and you got to go home to your wife or your husband and kids and possibly take that home, but don't know if you got it or not that day.
01:24:36
Blacknight
Correct.
01:24:41
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? So yeah, yeah, that was a time man. I felt like we were disrespected, man. and I feel like we never got our just do. I also feel like the the postal service is planning this contract with our money from back then.
01:24:55
Blacknight
Come on, talk about it.
01:24:56
lastyles
You know what I'm saying?
01:24:57
lastyles
um I'm a reinstate that. I'm a reinstate that.
01:25:00
Blacknight
Go ahead, talk about it, brother.
01:25:01
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? Because y'all playing games and y'all really being disrespectful. Y'all really being, to say that we either deserve a raise going forward or we should get back paid for something that we done did already during COVID, but but not wanting to give us both sounds disrespectful as, man, I want to say cuss words, but I'm trying to, we trying to make sure that this spread out to everybody.
01:25:06
Blacknight
For real.
01:25:21
Blacknight
Hey, y'all.
01:25:26
Blacknight
Yeah, it's very disrespectful.
01:25:26
lastyles
But if I can say the stuff I wanted to say, Doug is man, like somebody should be getting hands and feet.
01:25:30
Blacknight
Don't say it. Don't say it.
01:25:32
Blacknight
Don't say it.
01:25:33
lastyles
Somebody should be getting hands and feet, bro.
01:25:34
lastyles
If somebody told me that in my face, across the table, and we was negotiating, they just have to call up all the inspectors.
01:25:36
Blacknight
Don't say it.
01:25:39
lastyles
Cause somebody gonna get hands and feet right then and there. Cause I feel like you purposely being disrespectful.
01:25:40
Blacknight
All day.
01:25:45
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? To say, a coffee, I can either give you a raise or I give you the money that I owe you. Which one you want?
01:25:53
Blacknight
Both.
01:25:57
Blacknight
Hey.
01:25:58
lastyles
give you the money that you deserve going forward or give you the money that I owe you.
01:26:02
lastyles
i gotta You gotta choose between getting the money you deserve and getting the money you're owed. You would think in the natural state you should get both. For somebody to say, no, I'll give you one of the other.
01:26:14
lastyles
It sounds, it's disrespectful, bro. Disrespectful.
01:26:15
Blacknight
and a
01:26:18
lastyles
So community, make sure we stay on top of that with with with your unions and these new contracts with the ump-cubbing raises and in the back pay for hazard pay during COVID and all this and the other that that's going on with these negotiations.
01:26:28
lastyles
Make sure y'all stay on top or whatever you got to stay on top of. Make sure you check them with the APWU on, ah on the website and things of that nature. They're supposed to be posting updates on there, whatever the case is. I don't know if they are or not, man. I don't ever go on there because, i and man, I got beef with the union. Listen, union.
01:26:46
lastyles
in a, in a LC, y'all got an episode coming up. A P W U y'all got an episode coming up. You know what I'm saying? At some point in time, we, we talking to you. And then of course management y'all got your own specific episode coming. Like, oh, like the disrespect is, is crazy right here. Disrespect is crazy in these last five and a half years, man. People got to get talked too crazy. Y'all can't, can't keep letting the slide.
01:27:11
Blacknight
Alright man, go ahead and get him the outro or where would they get where they can find us at so we can get up out of here when we might uh we don't want to take up too much of that time.
01:27:21
lastyles
I don't know. What time is it? 849. Yeah, we get up out of here. Again, this has been another episode of the postal blue podcast. I believe this is episode seven. You know what I'm saying? Um, originally again was supposed to be a
Knowledge Sharing and Community Support
01:27:33
lastyles
router adjustments and station consolidations, but, and we're doing kind of try to combine those two, but we might make out some point fives in the future. Who knows? Um, if it's not the next, uh, episode eight.
01:27:44
lastyles
But again, it's been another episode of Post Blue Podcast. We are your hosts and your boy LA Styles, AKA the LA Styles, also known as Ice. That is your main man, Black Knight. I really coffee with coffee. I don't know what your AKA is. Is it coffee, AKA Black Knight or are you Black Knight and you going with AKA coffee? How you rocking it now?
01:28:02
Blacknight
And so, you know what I'm saying? It's coffee, AKA Black Knight. is a It can be coffee, AKA Black Knight, AKA, you know what I'm saying? Wolfpack leader, AKA, I want the best for your life, AKA, I ain't gonna let him run over us, AKA, I'm the bus driver, AKA, I'm the front line of defense, whatever you feel.
01:28:25
lastyles
And with that, man, we're gonna give it up for um but another good episode, another great episode, you know what I'm saying? um Hopefully y'all get some knowledge.
01:28:30
Blacknight
Yes, yes, yes.
01:28:35
lastyles
um Again, this this was not the minute this was not meant to be a deterrent. from, from new people coming into the post office nor be a deterrent for new people staying in the post office. Right. um I'm not gonna say this is necessarily a motivational ah episode is weird as well but I do feel like is this it was something that was needed to be said, and I felt like there was knowledge that you knew PTFs, PSCs, and CCAs need to hear. You know what I'm saying? For those of you who might not be getting it. And with that, again, we appreciate y'all. CCAs, PTFs, PSCs, we do appreciate y'all. That goes to truck drivers too, because truck drivers, when they're not regular, they they're still called PTFs as well.
01:29:19
lastyles
For those you who didn't know their PTFs as well.
01:29:19
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:29:23
lastyles
I don't know what the mail handlers versions is and I think the No,
01:29:26
Blacknight
I think they all PC. I think they all fall on the clerk car.
01:29:32
lastyles
what are they what are they new ones called like the the the ones that's not full-time for mail handlers are they PTFs as well?
01:29:38
Blacknight
I think they all PDFs.
01:29:40
lastyles
I And then um also shout out to the custodians that we've been getting come in. I think they call like PRTs or PTRs or something like that. um Man, listen, it's the post office. They try to follow some type of military thing. They got a lot of acronyms, man. Don't try to keep up with them. You I'm just trying to make sure that we do cover.
01:30:00
lastyles
ah The ones that I can think of currently are off the top of my head again, we don't do nothing scripted over here. It's all freestyle. It's all right off the top. It's all organic when we talk to each other. It is what it is. It's just how we so happen to be feeling that day.
01:30:12
lastyles
You know what I'm saying? So I appreciate my brother Crawford showing up.
01:30:13
Blacknight
Mm hmm.
01:30:15
lastyles
Shout out to our sister, Fi, who couldn't make it on this this episode. Also shout out to Watkins. um Shout out to Mike shoutout to ah q shout to Congratulations to our little brother Leo.
01:30:28
lastyles
He got a baby shower October 6 for his first time down in Ohio.
01:30:28
Blacknight
Yes, sir.
01:30:32
Blacknight
Stand up.
01:30:32
lastyles
If I didn't say I am standing now.
01:30:36
lastyles
Shout out my boy Leo. um ah we Michael, shout out Q2.
01:30:39
Blacknight
Get that out the way. All right.
01:30:41
lastyles
Our other little brother Q, he get married next year. We'll shout out, get that out the way. Hey, y'all make sure to tag this episode with that in the comments.
01:30:46
Blacknight
get that out the way
01:30:48
lastyles
That way when he say that we didn't say nothing, we can go find it.
01:30:51
Blacknight
right
01:30:53
lastyles
it's so It's online, bro. We did that already a long time ago. And again, we appreciate y'all, man. We appreciate all the hard work. We appreciate all the regular. We appreciate the good people in management. um We appreciate the stewards that's actually stewarding.
01:31:05
lastyles
um And the safety captains that that's that's that's safety and not here. Yeah, I'm saying we know that I know that's not some terms, but I'm making it some terms today. Appreciate y'all blessings love people are still coming down with COVID every so often so y'all make sure to stay safe out here be safe out here.
01:31:21
Blacknight
And stay at home if you got COVID, man. Stop going places if you got COVID. Stay your sick, but at home, get better, and then come outside.
01:31:21
lastyles
you know i'm saying
01:31:31
lastyles
Um, some people immune system not working, man. I don't know if it's your immune system. Y'all need to drink orange juice and get under a warm blanket, man. Y'all gotta stop taking so much medicine too, man. Your body gotta fight something off, bro. You gotta fight something. Now I'm not telling you to fight COVID. You might have to medicine up to fight COVID. Let me, let me, let me, let me retract that. You might have to medicine up to fight COVID. If you, if you, if you haven't been using your immune system over the years, medicine up to fight COVID, bro.
01:31:57
lastyles
Okay, cuz I don't want something to happen to you and you like man coffee and ice told me don't take no medicine I'm like now this listen your immune system ain't been working just that we Just think that it might not be working.
01:32:08
lastyles
So you go ahead and medicine up and you get over that. And then after you get better, then build your immune system back up. Shout out to all our older people. Shout out to all our newer people.
Conclusion and Future Content
01:32:19
lastyles
Host of Blue Podcast.
01:32:19
lastyles
Y'all make sure to check out Ice Coffee. for we real back we We back real, real soon. The Ice Coffee Podcast, season two. And y'all make sure to check out Unjustified Behavior.
01:32:26
Blacknight
Coming with that fire.
01:32:29
lastyles
Okay, this iced coffee is is me and coffee show. I mean, we don't talk about nothing that's work related and the the
01:32:36
Blacknight
Nothing.
01:32:38
lastyles
The instances or organic behavior that we have now in communication is what it is, but we talk about all types of wild stuff. Girlfriends, your boyfriends, I won't say some terms, but some HO, yeah man, body counts, just life raising kids, cheating, not cheating, what's cheating?
01:32:48
Blacknight
Three songs. um
01:32:57
Blacknight
Baby mamas, baby daddies.
01:32:58
lastyles
Because not cheating is all cheating. Not cheating is all cheating. Not cheating is all cheating, you know what I'm saying? There's a difference, you know what I'm saying?
01:33:03
Blacknight
All cheating, all cheating.
01:33:05
Blacknight
Aye, y'all gotta aye.
01:33:06
lastyles
All cheating ain't cheating, you know what I'm saying?
01:33:08
Blacknight
All cheating ain't cheating now, come on now.
01:33:09
lastyles
But stay tuned for those.
01:33:11
lastyles
Season two gonna be fire. And y'all might wanna be there for that.
01:33:13
Blacknight
fire
01:33:15
lastyles
Also gonna be on Amazing and Studios on ah on our YouTube channel. You make sure to go subscribe over there. But y'all can also make sure to already go up, cause we got the trailer for ah for season two up, just so you can be able to find it.
01:33:26
lastyles
And go ahead, make sure you follow that and subscribe to that as those those as well.
01:33:29
Blacknight
Man, get them subs up. I'm telling you, that's going to be fired.
01:33:32
lastyles
as Yeah, y'all gonna wanna be there for that.
01:33:33
Blacknight
Tell your grandmother, tell your aunties.
01:33:37
lastyles
Correct. And with that, man, we will get up out of here again. Appreciate y'all. Love y'all. Be safe. Stay healthy. And to the next one, this has been the postal blue podcast. Appreciate you.
01:33:48
Blacknight
We out.
01:33:48
lastyles
We're going to hit you with the outro and we appreciate it.
01:34:04
lastyles
A lot more. Peace.
01:34:05
Blacknight
too much.