"They Rely On Me": An Update From A USPS Mail Carrier
Publisher |
WNYC Studios
Media Type |
audio
Publication Date |
Aug 19, 2020
Episode Duration |
00:14:17

The United States Postal Service has been in the news a lot in the past week, as national anxiety rises about the upcoming presidential election, mail-in ballots, and the Postmaster General's recent cost-cutting changes to the mail system. 

Our listener Beth is a mail carrier in rural Maine who first wrote to us back in March about being an essential worker, and her fears of contracting and spreading COVID-19 on her route. "I don't know if this virus is on the mail," she said then. "The packages, the mailboxes. I touch everything." 

When we checked in with Beth more recently, she told us some of those fears have lessened for her. But now, she's facing new pandemic-related challenges at work, including childcare issues, and delivering a lot more packages. "I definitely run from my truck to a house to drop off a package and I run back to my truck and it's go, go, go, go, go all day long," she said, adding that because she gets paid a set rate for her rural route, "I get paid for 43 hours [per week] no matter what."


Listen to our episode about essential workers, including Beth, from earlier this spring. 

 

As the USPS finds itself at the center of a political divide, we check in with a mail carrier who wrote to us earlier this year about being an essential worker at the height of the pandemic. 

Are you a new listener? Welcome! Check out our starter kit, which includes some of our favorite episodes of the show.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.

And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.

As the USPS finds itself at the center of a political divide, we check in with a mail carrier who wrote to us earlier this year about being an essential worker at the height of the pandemic. 

Are you a new listener? Welcome! Check out our starter kit, which includes some of our favorite episodes of the show.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.

And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.

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