Did he pick up and redeliver the mail? If not, and you still feel torn, then remember that on top of cussing at you, he’s not doing his job either.
Another vote for calling the postmaster general for your city and explaining the situation exactly as you did in the OP.
Just to add to this: I’m curious about one thing - it’s common slang these days (especially amongst the younger crowd) to say “fuck off” as a thing not directed at anybody else, but rather to mean “oh, shit.” I wasn’t there so I can’t say if this was the case, but do you think this is a possibility?
It doesn’t matter. When you are acting in a professional capacity, you are getting paid to put forth your best face. And in the capacity in which he was performing, WE, the taxpayers, are paying him to do his job. Under these circumstances, that kind of language is NEVER proper. He shouldn’t even be saying “oh, shit.” I’d get fired if I did that.
I see you’re in Australia. Over here, “fuck off” pretty much means just that.
Absolute, I thought it was gold.
The U.S. Post Office is like any other company, allegedly customer service oriented. If you’re dissatisfied with that service you should call your local Postmaster and discuss the issue with her/him.
Otherwise this guy is going to continue to be a prick. Why put up with it?
I both work with and hang out with a lot of younger people. They were not even born the last time someone told me to fuck off. So no, it’s not a trend.
Oh, I don’t know. Just this morning, I answered my phone at work: “Corporate data center, don’t make me tell you to fuck off.” The guy on the other end said, “Fuck off with your fuck off. I just want fucking access to the fucking SAN.” I said, “Fuck off your fucking access. That’s for fucking admins, you fuck.” The guy said, “Quit fucking around, you know who this is?” I said, “Go fuck yourself, or fuck off, you choose.” He said, “Fuck you, give me my fucking access.” I said, “Get fucked, the SAN’s fucking offline anyway.” He said, “Fuck.”
I cuss - a lot. Enough that after this last trip home with plenty of people commenting on it, I am trying to figure out ways to cut cussing out entirely. Part of the problem is that, like many people my age, when it’s just happening in conversation, few people notice. My polite friends didn’t even really notice how often I swear when I get excited until we watched a video one of my friends and I made, and we were all a little stunned - including me.
I’ve also worked various forms of customer service since I was 12.
I would never say such a thing to or around a customer. Even in my swear word drenched brain, I somehow manage to not cuss around my grandmother (one of them), around my advisers and my customers. I rarely swear around my parents, and I’d never swear in front of my much younger cousins. And, as I said, I curse like a sailor.
Report his ass. Hell, report his whole damn body. Just don’t cuss when you do it.
Me? I’m off to work on my cursing problem. Assuming I notice when I’m cursing, which has been the trick so far.
The postal worker can talk however he wants when he’s with his friends, but when you’re at work, there are standards of conduct. I’ve been known to swear at work (slow computer, somebody else dropping the ball that I have to pick up) but I have never ever *ever * sworn at a co-worker or a customer.
So, report his ass.
I can understand where you’re going with this. Just let it roll off your back, don’t let it get to you, pick your battles, and all that.
But his cursing is not just unacceptable behavior, it’s the tip of the iceberg on a range of larger issues. He delivers mail to the wrong addresses, doesn’t care, and when kindly called on it, acts like an abusive assnugget. I know I wouldn’t want some moron like that controlling my access to information. That’s one battle I’d pick.
I’m trying to remember when it was that somebody last told me to “Fuck Off”.
Looking at my knuckles and noticing that they have no teeth marks on them it occurred to me that, if it happened, it was a long time ago.
I don’t believe that its a common or casual statement.
It’s a bit more common across the pond, isn’t it?
I appreciate all the suggestions, folks. Although I probably ought to report him, I have decided to wuss out and not file a complaint unless there’s another problem with this guy. I’m worried that he might try to retaliate by destroying my mail, and I get monthly checks that I can ill afford to lose (a missing check takes about six months to be re-issued). Although destroying mail is a federal crime, and it would be a damned stupid thing for this fellow to do, I am well aware that hotheads don’t always act in their own best interests.
I am still hoping that this twerp is just a temporary substitute for our regular mail carrier. The other postman is, like most USPS employees I’ve met, a great guy.
I was sitting at home one day when a sub delivered my mail, approximately three hours late. My window was open – and my couch is about one foot from the mailbox. As he stalked off my porch, he yelled something back at me. I jumped up and ran outside because I hadn’t heard what he’d said, but I think it was something about how he couldn’t find my mailbox. (It’s homemade and came with the house.)
I decided not to report him because I think he was a one-time thing and I can understand how it’s not patently obvious that the brown wooden box on the wall next to my front door is meant to function as a mailbox. I will put up a new one when I receive a letter from the Postmaster demanding that I do so. In the mean time, 75 other mail carriers have had no trouble whatsoever delivering my mail; I see no need to get all prickly about it if one guy had trouble one time.
In your case, however, I’d report him. Include attached photos of your front door with the big house numbers all obvious and stuff. ETA: Or not. But document the incident to set yourself up in the event that it happens again. Then you can show a pattern of behavior rather than a one-bad-day incident. We all have grumpy days. I can support giving him a pass as well.
Even if this is your final decision, do keep a written note of exatly what happened, date & time. Do the same for anything else that happens. That way, should things deterioriate, you aren’t just relying on memory, and you’ll have a far more accurate description of events than he will.
That postal worker is lucky he lives in a place where “fuck off” doesn’t earn you an ass-kicking. Reporting him is absolutely appropriate.
I worked as a carrier one summer. It was a long time ago, and I don’t know how they do it now, but postal inspectors are out checking on temps. I know they checked one me. I’m more offended by his carelessness in delivering the mail than even the “fuck off.” Who knows if he is misdelivering something important. Who knows if he is tossing mail he doesn’t think worth it down the sewer. If you report it, I think they’ll warn him (unless he did it before) and they’ll watch him.
I had dogs who attacked me, I had people upset when they didn’t get something they expected, and I delivered to streets where every mailbox was about two stories above the street. If I said “fuck off” to anyone I would have expected my ass to be fired.
So did he take the mail to the right place?
I’m inclined to report him, most especially if he’s not permanent, but more for misdirecting mail without caring. The “fuck off” I’d reward with an open-handed slap in the mouth, if I were able. Just to make him more aware of the outside world.
Is coffee for closers at your workplace, Cervaise?
pinkfreud, I’m 23 and my friends and I would never use that sort of language when talking to someone in a professional capacity. And I’m talking mostly about journalism students, so it’s a pretty foul-mouthed bunch. I certainly wouldn’t address someone older than me with that language unless they were actively trying to harm me.
I am shocked at the thoughtlessness and hostility expressed in this thread. pinkfreud, you did right by not acting on this.
Some of you guys seem terribly eager to cause this mail carrier guy some REAL misery for what may, for all the OP indicates (sorry, pink, if I’ve misread you), already be the worst day of his life. Also, the misdelivery might not be his doing, the person or machine doing the sorting may have messed up, and he just doesn’t want to talk anymore.
Sure, the guy was rude. But with just that bit to go on, why this mass desire to drop the hammer? If this IS a behavioral pattern, then get huffy. Until then, no harm, no foul.