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Jul 13, 2005
mail response Delivering mail is a very interesting sociological expirence. It is interesting to note the various ways the people who are receiving mail interact with their mailroom personel. For your information, here are some of the various ways that people respond to the daily mail delivery. 1. The default, "normal" response. This one is pretty basic, and covers about 60 percent of the people that I deliver mail to on a regular basis. Typically, it goes like this: Recipient: Hello (or other generic greeting) Me: Hi (mail is handed off) Recipient: Thank you Me: You're welcome (I leave) And that's that. Sometimes, nothing is spoken, they just nod to acknowledge that I am in the room, and reach out for their mail. Or maybe they just cut the greeting and simply say "Thanks." Regardless, it's a simple, quick approach, mail is delivered, and we are all back to work in no time. 2. The "Way too entusiastic about mail" approach. Sometimes, we all get really cool mail. A birthday card that is going to have money in it. The book we have been waiting for from Amazon. So, sometimes, this is an appropriate approach. At work, it rarely is though. But, some people are just excited about mail. These people typically come in 3 categories: a. The "I can't wait until the mailcart come" approach, where they actually come to the mailroom looking for their mail that is about to be delivered to them in about half an hour. I guess there is some type of motivation for that, I don't know. But, there always seems to be a few people who do this. b. The "meet you at the door types." Sometimes they know you are coming, and there they are, waiting at the door, excited about the one letter and six peices of junk mail that they are about to be handed. c. The "really excited comment" type. This usually involves some type of non-sarcastic "wow, thanks" or "great, thank you" comments. Glad I could brighten your day. 3. The Comedien. That's right, some people have to greet you with some type of joke about the mail they recieve. Occaionally, they are funny. For example, one day all I had was two peices of junk mail for one attorney, and when I handed it too him, he said, "Thanks, I've been waiting for this." Good stuff. Most of the time, it's not funny. The most common one: Wow, you brought me presents! Now, I will admit that it was funny the first time I heard it, back in 1999, the first time I ever took a mailcart. However, it quit being funny later that week, after I heard it over and over and over and over and over and over. And people still use it. They still think it's funny. If you are one of these people, stop. This is also the group where the sarcastic "wow, thanks" comments come in, as well as "I don't want this," "stop bringing me mail," and all the other overused jokes come in. If you are in this category, you are probablly not funny. If you aren't sure, run your joke by me. I'll let you know, so you can perform a great service to your mailroom by stopping if it is not funny. 4. The restricted access people. Most offices have some room somewhere that you can't get in without the proper access code. But, people who work in there have to get their mail too. However, most of the time, these people are either file clerks or IT people, so they rarely get any type of significant mail. Most of the time, it is some ad from Dell or some CD of a shareware version of some software they are never going to buy. Anway, when you deliver to these people, you have to knock on their door and wait till they come open it. And, usually, they are nice, but they have this look on their face like, "I can't believe I just walked all the way across the room to get this AOL 10.24 cd. 5. The utterly suprised people. This is probablly my favorite group. I really can't figure these people out, or what the heck is going on in their heads. I wish I could be a total smart aleck to these people and not get fired, because that would make my job SO MUCH more fun. Anyway, I'm guessing its pretty common knowledge that in the United States, mail is delivered every day, Monday through Saturday, with the exception of federal holidays. We all know this right. I'm assuming it would stand to reason that our mailroom would then sort and deliver every time mail is delivered to us. Which is in fact the case. We take mail around every morning, sometime between 9:30 and 10:30. With this in mind, some people seem really suprised every time we take them mail. As if they weren't expecting it for some reason. Often, it is just a vacant stare, as if they have never seen mail before. But, I know they have, because I handed them mail just the day before. So I know they know the drill. Anyway, there are also 2 questions that come with this category. a. Is that for me? Ohhhh, if I could just make a comment and keep my job, it would be so theraputic. As if I was going to walk into their office when it wasn't for them. Usualy, I play along and actually check the name one last time, just to make sure. b. What is this? My absolute favorite. This is just classic stuff. I really don't know where to begin. Normally, I just assume that they realize it is mail. So, they must be asking what is inside, because I obviously know. I guess there must be one of two assumptions at work here. One may be they the think that in the mailroom, not only do we deliver and send out the mail, but that we also create the mail that we deliver. If not that, then I guess they assume that I have read the mail before I take it in to them. But, this is against the rules, so there is no way that this can be the case. Just one time, I want to answer this question by saying, "Probably some sort of legal documents." Maybe someday. 6. The "I'm not going to acknowledge that you even exist types." These people just piss me off. Not always, but often. Sometimes, someone is really busy, typing away at the keyboard or whatever, and don't really noticed that I walked in. I'm down with that. If they are the clear desk types, I can usually just set the mail down and leave, no big deal. If they are the messy types, then it can get complicated, but still, no big deal. But, then there are those who clearly see me come in, are looking right at me, and say nothing, or don't reach for the mail. This is really awkward, because as they are looking at me, I assume they are in fact going to reach for the mail. Instead, they leave me hanging, so after a few seconds, I have to try and find a place on their messy desk to set it down on. I just want to punch these people sometimes. 7. The "I'm actually interested in your life" types. These are rare, at least where I work, but they do exist. They actually try and learn your name, ask how you are and actually listen and respond to your response. Rare, but appreciated. So, what kind of mail recipent are you?? posted
by Unknown @ 12:18:00 AM |
