4 Saturday, March 29, 2014
Pride
Star-Herald
Postman retires after 30 years of service By IRENE NORTH Staff Reporter
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. The phrase, engraved on the outside of the James A. Farley Post Office building at Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street in New York City is the attitude Jim Reisig had for 30 years as a letter carrier in Gering. Reisig began his career with the U.S. Postal Service in Gering in 1983. Starting three years ago, when many services were moved to the Scottsbluff branch, Reisig was forced to begin his day there before returning to his coveted route. “I had the best route in Gering,” he said. Reisig retired on March 1 but has not yet had a chance to enjoy his retirement because of bad weather. “I’ve been waiting until the weather straightens out. I’m used to walking so much. I’m getting cabin fever,” he said. The postal service continues to rely on the amount of mail delivered each day. It is one of the few things that can be controlled. It is also why letter carriers do not deliver at the exact time every day. “Our job is dependent on t he volu me of m a i l . Sometimes, there isn’t a lot and we’re early, sometimes we have a lot of letters and packages and we’re a little late,” he said. Reisig remembers the days of the Sears and JC Penney’s catalogs and said he doesn’t really miss them. “Some routes have 600
stops. Those days took a while to deliver,” he said. As a post al employee, Reisig said he understands why people get frustrated with the system. “Since we’re the closest to a government agency, sometimes they take their anger out on us. Other t imes, they need to get some place quickly or want to get somewhere and don’t want to wait in line. All of that I understand,” he said. Jim praised his coworkers often, saying they were one Jim and Skeeter Reisig at the Scottsbluff U.S. Postal Service branch. human work. This is a good hard. People don’t under- they do,” he said. of the best parts of his job. Stress, Reisig said, is the “These people do super- group of people. They work stand all that goes into what
Photo by Irene North
REISIG, page 5
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