Vol 20, No. 4 • September 2020
News You Can Use
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Postal carrier puts stamp of approval on her career By Lucy Weber Melinda Bowdry-Bolton doesn’t only deliver letters on her postal route. She brings smiles too. The 23-year veteran of the Corinth Post Office said she appreciates all the people she sees along her way as she delivers the mail at the 700 stops on her daily route. “I like seeing the people every day. Kids love to see you and older people like to see a smiling face and have a little chat, especially these days when they’re home,” said Bowdry-Bolton. “Everybody likes connections.” The Baldwyn native had not considered joining the U.S. Postal Service until she saw a job posting from the post office. She had gone to school for respiratory therapy but discovered she didn’t like that field of work. She was planning to return to school in another field when she applied for the postal job. “The post office is very hard to get into,” she said, but Bowdry-Bolton got hired quickly and joined up for a career she loves. She’s only worked two routes in Corinth her entire career. “Carriers stay in those jobs. You know everybody and you see their kids grow up. Children look up to you, and for the older people you may be the only face they see and talk to all day long.” Bowdry-Bolton lives in Tupelo, but said she doesn’t mind the commute for her work day. “That’s me-time. It’s a nice hour-long drive.” When she arrives at the Corinth Post Office at 7:30 a.m. each weekday, BowdryBolton said she never knows what delivery will be like. “At the post office, you don’t know what kind of days you’ll have,” she said. Some days are filled with grocery store flyers, “marriage mail” – direct mailings that combine several ads, sales notices and coupons into one – or lots and lots of packages that can make her mail bag heavy, Bowdry-Bolton said. “There’s a high demand for home delivery these days. “We want our customers to count on us.” On her route, Bowdry-Bolton switches between driving her mail truck and walking house to house to make her deliveries. “I like walking. It’s cooler than in my truck,” she said, adding that as a left-hander, driving a vehicle while seated on the right side doesn’t bother her. The postal service is working hard to deliver the mail and complying with all the regulations to deliver the mail safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are proud of our role in accurate service,” she said. Carriers are required to Return Address: P.O. Box 1292 Corinth, MS 38835 wear masks and gloves all day on the job, frequently wash and sanitize hands and sanitize their vehicles. Masks and POSTAL PATRON see BOWDRY-BOLTON pg 4
Melinda Bowdry-Bolton