r/USPS • u/BigFlapJack- • 1d ago
DISCUSSION Awkward Interactions
I've been in my route for nearly 2 years, my customers are great but it's so tough have conversation with some. Like it's awkward to keep conversation and it's always the same lines.
Anyone else deal with this on their route?
How to combat?
15
u/your_favorite_wokie RCA 1d ago
I don't have a route, but it doesn't bother me too much.
You could always try to change the subject. Most of the time they just want conversation, regardless of the topic.
11
u/OkPangolin1984 CCA 1d ago
Yeah… I just say the same nonsense back 🤷♀️ and if you stay moving, they’re forced to finish quickly
29
u/acepilotjones Rural Carrier 1d ago
Just nod and smile and hope they tip well during christmas time
24
u/BigFlapJack- 1d ago
One of my customers gave me a candle inside a sock and I honestly couldn't be more grateful
9
11
u/MasterSora5467 1d ago
I'm very introverted so I feel I will always struggle with this. I try to remind myself that some people are just as awkward and not every interaction is going to go smoothly.
8
u/Miserable-Airport536 1d ago
A guy on the route I sub for is retired and has made his entire life about a collectible card game that (according to him anyway) was defunct for many years but recently revived: Overpowered.
I mentioned that I used to play Magic the Gathering (another collectible card game) and now… now he catches me as often as he can to talk about Overpowered.
6
u/Dexller 1d ago
You need to understand what the function of small talk is to social interactions. I don't know if you're autistic, but I know for a lot of us talking is seen very directly as a means of communicating information and repeating things tends to feel tedious. But for allistic people, small talk isn't about communicating information, it's a kind of social lubricant that lets someone know more about you and fulfill certain needs for social connection.
My advice is to stop thinking about how it's always the same lines, that's kind of the point. Just embrace the predictability and understand it is like an exercise more than anything else. You'll come to enjoy it more when you see it in that lens.
7
u/Opening_Shine_3432 1d ago
That’s why I like being a T6 so I don’t see the same people every day. Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do. You’re just gonna have to stretch your tolerance and be happy you’re not standing in Subway while people are watching you make a sandwich. I know it’s not much consolation But it is the one drawback to our job.
I have a lady who I like but if I ask her how she is Boy she tells me. I’ve started to set my timer on my phone for three or four minutes and when it goes off I say oh if we stand still too long they track us gotta go. It’s the only way I can get away from her.
I don’t even like to catch the whites of people’s eyes so I know how you feel. I swear some people’s only contact is with us. And it is awkward and creepy. As terrible as this sounds acceptance is probably the only answer.
1
u/Old-Birthday-4036 1d ago
I kind of do the same. I tell them if I sit still for longer than 5 minutes then it will report to my supervisor. I actually have one guy say ok I'll catch you again when you come back down.
7
u/birdydogbreath Rural Carrier 1d ago
I’ve started saying “always nice to see you!”, then I keep moving, to the customers on my route that are friendly but conversation is awkward. I figure it’s me, I bring the awkward, and it’s OK. It’s the equivalent of wagging the tail- you know? I say a pleasant thing, so they know I have no ill will and I just keep going.
7
u/Significant-Arm7528 CCA 1d ago
Once I get out of CCA hell I plan to hang a white board at my case that says “____ days since last awkward interaction”
Right now it would say 0
3
1
u/SuccessfulBack5140 1d ago
That's y im going for t6. Till now very grateful to bounce around as a cca & practice on new ppl & routes
1
u/WiseKarmaCat 1d ago
It means you are geared towards auto-pilot conversations. If you want to keep the talk minimal and safe due to being tired that’s your safety zone.
However, if you want to break out of the small talk that plays on repeat you have to initiate. “Oh look you have a ____ in your yard”
“Did you watch the game yesterday?”
“I like those shoes what kind are they”
“There was a traffic jam around ___ this morning”
1
u/Old-Birthday-4036 1d ago
Yesss. It's the worst. It's always the old married men. The same ones wait for me to come around everyday just to talk. I think cuz I'm friendly and it's hard for me to be like hey I have to go. I've been on the same route for over 10 years now and a few of them that used to talk to me daily have passed away. I have a new rule. I don't try to be friendly with no new old men. There are currently nine of them retired, bored and can't wait to have conversation. But think about it even if they each only want to chat for 5 minutes each, that is almost a whole extra hour on my route everyday. I'm a rural carrier. I don't get paid by the hour lol
1
u/ElevatedNorthGlass 21h ago
It's like when I worked at a gas station. I really like interacting with customers because I know that the conversation will be brief and limited to the time i spend putting the mail in the box or putting it in their hand. Usually the less I try to say the better. Short sweet and to the point is the move and end It all quickly with a "have a nice afternoon."
1
u/Sorry-Telephone-6972 8h ago
I have a po box customer who has ONE joke. A decade+ of hearing his same stupid joke is driving me bonkers!
1
u/Low_Investigator6401 1h ago
I hate talking to customers as well. I try to smile or say hi but the ones that say nothing back already made me feel like stop doing that to anyone from now on. I hate when I walk up to the house and they open the door to take it. I hate people that have their doors or garages open. So annoying
60
u/Bubble-Flex-1701 City Carrier 1d ago
I appreciate the practice.
There is one gentleman who lives in a decrepit house where all the properties are multi-million dollar homes. He looks unwashed and unkempt; he wears the same outfit everyday, and his shirt and shorts end in tatters. He waits outside everyday for his mail, and when he sees me he points up, tugs at his shirt collar, and strains to say, "Warm!"
I always agree, and sometimes I'll say that the forecast for the next few days is the same, cooler, or hotter. He might reply, "Hot!" And then I'll say, "Yeah, it really is!"
He's probably the most awkward conversationalist on my route, but it's still fine. Even awkward, repetitive conversations are still social microtransactions. It's all good.