Regular Vs. City Carrier Assistant: Who Makes the Best Postal 204B Candidate?

Having once served as a 204B himself, mailman author Mel knows where the deadly mines are in this battlefield, but not how to defuse them.

知道或魔鬼没有什么魔鬼？

Someone has to captain this sinking ship until it runs aground, right?

Postal 204B Supervisors do not elicit a lot of love or sympathy from people who read my articles on the subject. In fact, my admission of guilt to brief collaboration with Postal Management is worse than a confession of war crimes to some, whose corresponding comments make me cringe. Nonetheless, I make no apologies about my past participation in this cabal of necromancers, tasked to hypnotize their thralls through the mystically meaningless numerology of DOIS and other poorly designed, inaccurately tested, and shoddily implemented programs. My thinking is, no matter how much you hate them, supervisors are a necessary evil.

Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don'tis an old Irish proverb that applies in most cases, including where these largely unloved postal bosses are concerned. We may have bad managers, but we learn to accommodate ourselves to them in time, adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of their personalities and, dare I say, sometimes figuring out how to turn the tables and manipulate them. Often the result is reversed - the bad bosses have brainwashed us into accepting their Stockholm Syndrome reign of terror.

Whatever the case, when a new boss:我们不知道的魔鬼，comes on the scene, they are an unknown quantity, meaning that the awkward and uncomfortable accommodation curve starts over.

Every day post office employees have to make a deal with known or unknown devils, in order to keep the blood pressure down and go home without carrying a ticking time-bomb payload of stress that may explode in our domestic lives. However, this give and take between employee and supervisor has become increasingly difficult, because the spawn of Satan carrying the clipboards are frequently:

1. Young enough to be our children
2. 没有在邮政服务中足够多地了解太多
3. Blank slates, making it possible for Postal Managers to mold them in their own grotesquely misshapen images

Perhaps the Postal brain-trust believes the policy of using City Carrier Assistants (CCAs) as delivery supervisors is in its best interests. After all, these neophytes do not have the experience to question the validity of the numbers being forced down the throats of letter carriers, via the feeding tube of the dreaded clipboard. The newbie number pushers will commit no thought crimes, they will simply berate and bully the impossible expectations created by these fake statistics.

因此,由于学龄前儿童现在逃跑g the daycare center and have their shackled teachers learning a distorted version of arithmetic, in which one plus one equals whatever they say it does, I am now going to rewrite the time-honored adage. Yes, our jobs require that we treat with the devil every day, but I sayBetter the Devilwho knowsthen the devil who doesn't.

我说，监督员是必要的邪恶，但如果我们必须拥有它们，我会选择一个给予他或她英镑的肉体常客载体。Postal Service Management, on the other hand, seems to prefer the empty vessel of aCity Carrier Assistant.毕竟，这些宣传的Sycophants可以填写目前议程的任何脱钩的内容，本月的味道。哪种型号是对的？

随着服务的需求要求

它看起来像服务的需要,本Franklin's tried and true, battle-tested Postal Service, have come to the point where they are taking kids barely out of diapers and using them to command grizzled veterans who have done hard time on the front lines.

我的意思是对城市承运人助理没有贬值。我现在已经训练了几十个，当他们结果是邮政服务的真实资产时，父亲骄傲。其中一些人已经达到了204bs或更高，而且这个群体有一些人在管理角色中茁壮成长。

许多CCAS将氧气新鲜输注到疲惫的血液中。有些人有技能和资产，通过邮政影响力，从其他地方带来。例如，我有一个以前为一个着名的软件公司工作的实习生。当公司关闭当地办事处时，他不想转移，所以他拿起了一个工作作为CCA。我真的不能说我训练他，因为他赶到了这么快的一切，他正在吸烟我。让我们说一下他半屁股宝贝他三天，直到他可以被正式变得松动。

令人惊讶的是，这一CCA逐渐成为204B的永久性，从星期天亚马逊导致全职交付监督。我想一次现在他将被推广到真正的EAS位置，我不嫉妒他。他是那些拥有真正脑子的夫妻抱有真正的大脑的夫妻之一，以弄清楚如何完成事情，并不是我们在顶部所需的东西？

I have trained one or two other CCAs who have made the change to 204b without fostering resentment, because their brainpower and work ethic measured up to what a leadership role requires. But for every one of these diamonds in the rough there are several more dull pebbles who think they should be handed a place in the supervisor's chair just because, in whatever narcissistic fantasy land they inhabit, their artificially inflated egos tell them they are worthy.We wants the Precious,随着Smeagol说，最好地反映了他们的态度。

一位CCA实习生在一天告诉我，他想成为顶级。我想，野心可能是健康的，但如果这家伙要在任何东西的顶部，他的富豪冠军将是误传之王。他是我见过的绝对最糟糕的最糟糕的状态，通过将地址字母投入随机邮箱来完成完全混乱。然而，他想成为一个Customer ServiceSupervisor.

Another strutting barnyard rooster CCA was telling everyone in the office who would listen he was going to work in human resources. This was after about three weeks on the job. In his youthful naivté maybe he didn't realize that every supervisor with more than a week in the war zone of delivery supervision is queued up to get a cushy cubicle jockey job like that. Meanwhile, this would-be leapfrog was aggravating slowness on two legs, and he called in sick much more than normal for a CCA.You gotta pay your dues Junior,我警告说。最终，我认为现实赶上了现在，而不是人力资源造纸推动师，他只是一个乖巧，荒谬的常规承运人，出于出席问题。

你必须支付你的会费大三

Just because you're something other than a foul-tempered slug who has sick call on speed dial, that doesn't mean you are either ready or willing to sell your soul to thePostal Devil you know, or don't know。All the same, should you as a Regular City Carrier, towel dried behind the ears from a score of years or more of experience, be given 204b preference over the CCA, still dripping in back of those auditory flaps after a soggy trip out of the placenta? Fair or not, who is a more suitable candidate? Does it really matter what we think?

Experts in the field are inclined to think you, old battle-scarred veteran, are better than the greenhorn fresh out of CCA bootcamp. A 1992 study by Alfred Kadushin identified the three main functions of supervision as educational, supportive, and administrative. I will grant you that in the third function, any trained monkey can be taught to run the administrative DOIS and TACs reports the 204b job requires, but as far as educational and supportive are concerned, I will put my bets on the racehorse who has toured the track a few times, and knows how to get inside the rails for the shortest distance to the finish line, albeit sometimes fouling, like最大安全性。

How can you educate other people, when you are barely out of the CCA educational process yourself, and have not completely integrated that knowledge through real-world experience? How can you support other employees—meaning organize resources necessary for them to do their jobs successfully, when you have no contacts upstairs who can get you things, and maybe can't yet locate the fax machine and supply room?

There are a multitude of things Regulars instinctively understand, that CCAs might not. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, they know where the routes are and how to split them up. Why would you give John on route 24 an hour on route 17, when route 17 is all the way across the Zip Code? You've just added 15 minutes of travel time, when you could have given him an hour on route 1, right next to him, for no extra driving.

Heavy is the hand that carries that clipboard, indeed, but when freshly hatched CCA is making his appointed rounds of the workroom floor, it grows as a heavy as a fifty-pound dumbbell in Jupiter gravity when he doesn't know the overtime rules and even who the overtime desired, work assignment, and eight-hour carriers are. Soon he has alienated the eight hour people by making them work late, he has worried the work assignment T-6 by taking time off of his string and giving it to the OT-allergic eight-hour guy, who is breaking out in hives, and he has outraged the ODL by not giving them any overtime at all. Poor Junior is not exactly off to a good start, is he? Not only does he have grievances galore piling up on his desk, which he has no idea how to deal with, but the people he is supposed to be commanding are all snickering behind his back for being a numbskull.

Whew! But those belligerent, whiny carriers have finally been chased out of the office, so the rest of the day gets easy from here, right? All Junior has to do is mop up those morning reports, lean back in that rickety, uncushioned postal chair, made bearable only by the steadily increasing padding on his immobile ass, then answer customer complaints from the phone and window. Piece of cake!

But wait, Junior doesn't know the rules about dog holds, so he just released the mail for a house with a man-eating Doberman without getting Animal Control on the scene or going out to take a look himself. He doesn't know the rules about mailboxes either, so he allowed Mrs. Smith to move her mail receptacle behind the bristling gauntlet of rose bushes in her back yard. Meanwhile, he told another carrier it is okay to deliver mail to a shoebox a customer nailed to the garden shed he rents out to a roomer.

Running Interference

Another essential function of the Postal Delivery Supervisor I almost neglected, but was reminded of by a Facebook comment, is called运行干扰。This job function consists not only of shielding employees from counter-productive micromanagement from above, but also shielding oneself from intimidation and unnecessary meddling, in order to get the job done.

I knew a regular carrier 204b with a few decades delivering the mail, who knew so much they would let her manage the station herself when the big boss was away on one of his junkets. This lady was a nail-biting nervous wreck, with an extremely volatile personality. Any attempt to question her decisions or criticize her carriers based strictly on computer screen numbers would result in a Krakatoa-like volcanic explosion on her part. The big boys shining seats with their asses upstairs said这个女孩疯了，and left her alone.

How can the CCA fresh out of preschool, still with the stink of Johnson's baby powder on him, hope to garner the same respect from those galoots in suits? Junior is so scared he asks permission to go to the bathroom, and the senior supervisor has to wipe his nose for him. More than likely he will be the yipping lapdog of the Postal Power brokers, eagerly responding to every nonsensical task they throw his way. This will further erode his credibility in the eyes of carriers and clerks, making his job as zookeeper over the hostile animals nearly impossible.

但邮政管理层的假设是常规运营商没有真正有任何特殊的品质，或将它们与他们的CCA同行仍然持有摇篮的侧面进行平衡的特殊品质，或技能。然而，不方便的真理是，如果你在这个组织几年里，你已经积累了大量的知识和智慧，可能就不知道它。

A recent case in point: Pressed for time to get a route adjustment implemented, my station manager refused to let me start early to install case labels. Her response to my request was "That's so simple anyone can do it." Accordingly, she assigned a CCA to the job, a young lady whose virgin eyeballs had never seen a set of naked case labels. Not putting any blame on this out of her element CCA, she screwed it up, and a couple regulars had to fix the botched job upon punching in.

Conspiracy or Ugly Reality?

您可能永远找不到纸张踪迹，证明了204B职位偏好CCA的讲述枪是邮政服务的官方政策。我已经毫不犹豫地搜索了这样的网站，并得出结论，隐藏在1 L'Enfant Plaza中没有隐藏的Dimly-Lit会议室没有秘密会议。邮政局局没有官方计划，以创造盲目的奴才，这将在毫无疑问地执行他们的决议，而不是将目光滚到数字电脑呕吐和说wait a minute, I know that route, that's frickin' impossible!

坐在那个热门座位上，虽然早上6点到晚上9点，但在很少额外的薪酬上，我认为邮政局的真正原因是抢夺愿意的CCA插入空的主管插槽很简单。没有人想要这样做。普通的城市运营商已经过时了解了玻璃上的釉面，监督员的震惊眼睛给出了灰姑娘必须从球回来的时间荒谬的下降截止日期，乞讨和恳求人们通过不可行的杆穹窿乞讨。高箍。这些退伍军人在推动监督员和守护者认为的促进监事会，ut-huh, that shit ain't for me.

On the other hand, ambitious young City Carrier Assistants approached about 204B think -Yeah, that sounds chill. I've always wanted to be the boss. Now I can kick back a little and(in some stations),get extra hours.In many locales weather also plays a role. Young'uns who haven't yet grown an igloo around their delicate hides jump at the chance to get out of the rain and snow.

Fledgling CCA不了解的是，推动人们周围的前景是一种诱惑木工的每一个种子角落的灯光。这意味着它们将无情地欺负并被无毒的精神术殴打，以使计算机屏幕上的kAbbalistic数字制作Think about your career choices!Unless, of course, they become psychos themselves and learn to bite back.

Furthermore, the CCA has no idea the 204b job is more tedious than glamorous, consisting mostly of fixing other people's mistakes into the wee, witching hours of the night -What happened to the scan on this package? This Express Mail was not delivered. A collection box was missed and I am getting hostile phone calls about it every five minutes. There are no clock rings for this carrier's time on that route.In other words, the fresh off the assembly line CCA cannot fathom that the majority of his or her time as a 204b will be spent dealing with other people's eff-ups. No wizened, grizzled, been around the block a few times Regular Carrier wants to do that.

Lose the Peach Fuzz First

We all started out young and naive in this job, so put in order to avoid the word愚蠢的。我的意思是没有不尊重我们的兄弟和姐妹CCA，但在我看来，这意味着什么，他们需要一点时间长大，成熟，成熟，在藤蔓上成熟，失去桃子的模糊，在移动之前发出一些真正的茬向上。

Unfortunately, patiently waiting for the toddlers to stop crawling and take their first real steps creates supervising staffing issues. Let's face it: Regular Carriers are not willing to take the blood oath that gets you ring around the collar of the soul that no Shout, Whisk, or even Oxiclean will scrub or soak out. Even so, Regulars also reserve the right to be resentful about getting bossed around by diaper-clad DOIS disciples. Facebook groups are rife with complaints on this subject, the same complaints repeated ad nauseum, with no satisfaction obtained despite the deafening volume of the whining.Is this fair? Is this legal? Is this a grievance?

Bad news folks. The Postal Service has been doing the 204B thing since 1955, and my bet is they are going to continue doing it until the last light is turned off and the last door is closed in the last Post Office. So either step up and do it yourself, Mr. or Mrs. Indignant Regular, or let the squawking of these bullying brats bounce off you as you go about your business like you have always done: the right way, theregular办法。

Sound off on 204Bs!

© 2019 Mel Carriere

Comments

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on July 08, 2019:

Warm but doomed at the outset. Tragic ending.

kimbesafrom USA on July 08, 2019:

是的，我绝对想念那些日子！这是一种温暖的社区，多种方式。

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on July 08, 2019:

Thank you kimbesa. I miss those Bubblews days, don't you? I appreciate you dropping by.

kimbesafrom USA on July 03, 2019:

I'm just a consumer, but I sure miss our prior carrier. Peach fuzz for us since January.

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on May 09, 2019:

Thank you Mills. Unfortunately, there is a ruling cabal of like minded strutting roosters who deliberately exclude anyone they consider a threat. I guess it's the same all over. I appreciate you dropping in.

Pat Millsfrom East Chicago, Indiana on May 09, 2019:

I have worked for the devil who knows as well as the devil who doesn't. Thankfully, the latter devil, in my case, eventually showed too much incompetence and blazed a trail out of any sort of leadership. It sounds like the USPS has plenty of capable leaders, but they also seem to believe in the Peter Principle, where they rise to a level of incompetence. We all know, though, that nobody likes a show-off like that.

MEL CARRIER.(author)2019年5月8日在科罗拉多州北部的雪地和下降：

Thank you Linda. I know it is kind of a niche topic, but I appreciate you taking the time to read.

Linda Cramptonfrom British Columbia, Canada on May 08, 2019:

I've learned a lot about the postal service in the United States by reading your articles, Mel. The education is always interesting!

MEL CARRIER.(author)2019年5月8日在科罗拉多州北部的雪地和下降：

Bill, in a perfect world employees move up the ladder one grueling step at a time. But Planet Postal is far from perfect, people skip several steps at once and the consequences are glaring, even to the general public.

Thanks for reading, my friend.

Bill Hollandfrom Olympia, WA on May 08, 2019:

You gotta pay your dues,Junior, are words spoken in practically every organization I have ever worked in....the pecking order is real and it is held important by the veterans....and it should be!

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on May 07, 2019:

Mailman Neal you crazy beach bum, I didn't even realize that was you until I took a closer look at your photo. Welcome to Hub Pages, a lot of lonely retirees hang out here, writing poetry. Write us a poem or two.

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on May 07, 2019:

Very well said Mailman Neal. Only problem is, outsiders who have never carried mail might find it far too easy to swallow the Kool aid. Thanks for chiming in.

Nealfrom Oxnard on May 07, 2019:

Most regular carriers will agree that CCA's should not be supervisors but at the same time those same regular carriers will not accept a supervisory position. That leaves the new, inexperienced and clueless to become managers. I'd rather see management hire someone from outside the postal service than take away our only help which is what happens when they

make 204B's out of CCA's

MEL CARRIER.(author)from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on May 07, 2019:

No it was all OT, but they made it worse with the travel time. Thanks for reading that far.

卡尔特洛on May 07, 2019:

John agreed to a 1 hour pivot mail must be super light.