I'm sure there are places where things don't get done right but I would also suppose it's the larger communities.
Years ago when I lived in Huron SD I had a route carrier that was a failure beyond belief, but I loved him. I called him "Sludge" but his real name was Robert. Robert drank alot to say the least. They wouldn't give him a vehicle because he had so many DUI's. So, his was the last route in town where someone would bring out sorted mail in put it in steel boxes along his route. He had a two bag push cart. He had a jug in every box. You could watch him get the mail out put it in his cart and then get his jug out and take a big pull on it and then lock the box up and continue on his route.
We never knew when our mail might get there. A large part of that was because of two alcoholic widows two blocks ahead of us. I think they took pretty good care of Robert.
What was really comical was when the supervisor would follow the carrier around and audit him as to what time he delivered to each house. I was really bad once when he showed up about 4 hours early with our delivery and asked, "What are you doing here this early." Just got a real scowl and could tell Robert was sweating blood in the 100 degree heat with no nips of the jugs and no extended stops at the widows houses.
"Sludge" was close to retirement then and I'm sure gone now but he was fun to watch. He might not have got it done on schedule but he always did it right!!
Hope all is well,
Mark
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