Confessions of a Postman -- the book

[NWpostie]

Read the book, it does read like a work of fiction, yet I do recognise some of what has gone on in as its similar in my office, but then you get back stabbers everywhere, there are some good people, in the book its seems Stan have had the same,
the terminology used is the same as used in RM, I read it as entertainment not as a wholly truthful account of what went on,, yet I have been subject to backstabbing, D2Ds being dumped under my frame, gossipers always watching my every move and commenting on it trying to grass me up, some bullying and intimidation, from Linos and posties, which I stood up to and acted like an awkward bugger so as not to be a pushover, so I think in some ways my experience mirrors the book, so its really is like a school playground. its not all bad though as I have made some friends as well, its not totally unpleasant but you do need a thick skin, It didn't bother me much as my view is go in do my work, out on the street, post the letters and meet REAL people, don't rush work to my time, go home, check my bank balance after my pay goes in, have a life, endex.

Some of what has gone, have been mentioned in various forms in posts on this forum, although I don't think its endemic as we do have good bosses and bad bosses all the way down to cleaners, its human nature.

From the descriptions and clues I am guessing this could be Croydon Delivery Office, I don't know much about Croydon as I have never worked there, has anybody been there and seen any of whats going on there that matches the book ?

[NWpostie]

Finished the book, I was 3/4 of the way through when I last posted.

In conclusion I do recognise some of what happened as being similar my Office and in others I have worked in, in nearly every one of them there is a clique, "the Sorted", a "Tracksuit Wankah" we had one in mine he however got sacked for boxing mail he should have delivered in another postal district, he was caught out as the Police and IB got involved.

I have been assured that this is a fair reflection of what happened in Croydon DO, I am equally inclined to believe it too, as I have observed similar antics in my area, some members of the board have said it makes the staffs in Royal Mail look stupid, I don't think so, it was actually the Linos that made us look stupid through poor leadership, no discipline, favouritism, and making it all "Lord of the Flies" on the shop floor, Tracksuit Wankah is a beast of their making as they didn't rein him in from day one, "Carlos the Jackal" sounds like an odious individual, in particular that he had caused a Diabetic patient to be hospitalised as he didn't deliver her insulin prescription, according to the book. "The Sorted" should never have been allowed to come into being, it undermines workplace cohesion.

Butch crossed the line to become a Lino and part of the pack losing his former "old school Royal Mail" principles, he back stabbed the author by getting him into trouble with Tracksuit Wankah, how low do you have to go to stay as a Lino ?

I personally would have handled TW differently from the author, stand up to him, he has a major weakness, he is all big man inside the DO but is a coward outside it, the best thing to do is to let TW know that any crap he gives out in workplace would earn him a beating outside the workplace so you take the problem to him not him taking the problem to you, also after having returned from a suspension, never lower your eyes and step out of his way its a weakness to be exploited, I would have eye balled him from day one, refuse to step out of his way and bounce him off me preferable with his cup of tea in hand , also rule number one deny everything, don't admit the truth ever, you won't get prizes for it.

From what I gather the trouble makers are 15% of the workplace, the rest just want to get on with thing unmolested and go home, that tallies with my experiences in most Offices I have been to, Royal Mail is also equally willing to throw money to defeat an ET when it would have been cheaper to settle, Logic has no place with RM sometimes, personally the author doesn't have to stand up and be counted, you chose your battles, he could have just done his job as best as he can within his own time, regardless of how much shabbing he got on that particular delivery, don't do any favours they will shaft you, you get no thanks for it, don't personalise what happens at work, take a step back and look at the big picture, its just a paycheck not your life its easier that way, as I do. I go to work, work to my time, take home my wages and rarely socialise with people from work as I have a life outside of work. I would however would take great pleasure in stitching up TW anonymously of course.

Its still an interesting read, I did enjoy some of the mundane aspect of the job outside of the DO, after all its just you and the street, I am fairly familiar with Croydon that why I recognise the landmarks, the Tram stations, Porters and Sorters pub, I have never heard of the term Bermondsey Backward Haka, thought it was actually a good descriptive turn of phrase

I am glad he took them on and won. get shed loads of cash and pissed off Tracksuit Wankah at the same time, he was let down by the management that should have taken control of the DO from day one, let down by his colleagues, most importantly of all and most shamefully of all by his Union.

I have recently heard that Croydon DO is going to be knocked down and relocated to an Wandle Park industrial estate, Factory Lane, presumably getting ready for Van sharing, if things haven't changed since the author has left, expect some fireworks.

[dvbuk55]

Is it a free download by any chance, if not I'll wait til it gets to the book clearance shop - pretty good value for money, there 4 books for a fiver some really good ones with well renowned authors.

[NWpostie]

I brought mine from Amazon for £8.99 if you can get it cheaper, even better I dare say its worth a read from a Postie point of view, you may see some parallels.

[General Mannerheim]

Well Dvbuk you could get it for the kindle for 1.99 instead of buying the book,I could ask how much it is on parchment for you if you like.

[dvbuk55]

Well Dvbuk you could get it for the kindle for 1.99 instead of buying the book,I could ask how much it is on parchment for you if you like.

Well 1.99 isn't too bad Mein General but do bear in mind I'm a pensioner with a limited income - still if the parchment version is an illuminated version in Latin I may be interested

[rainmaker7]

My ears were burning and I was wondering if those 2 passive aggressive trollers were having a dig at me on Royal Mail chat with lines like

It looks like he's going for the sequel GM - "Confessions of a Knobhead".

One thing I learned when I did my time at the RMG was never to wrestle with the pigs – cus you get covered in their s**t – but here I go...

As to NWpostie, what I found impressive was that he actually read the book before he commented on it and the comments that he made were incisive. I have to say though that the bit about the insulin never happened, it was exaggeration for comic effect though Carlos did cause a pregnant woman to miss an important appointment (and she couldn't get another because the health services were so stretched) and for a man to not get his job because he never received the letter telling him that he had got the job – he received the letter 6 months later in a plastic sachet with an apology from Royal Mail – and Carlos was allowed to continue on that same walk. Carlos was actually a pleasant enough lad to talk to but he had a criminal disregard for his job and he never realised what he was doing was totally wrong because the managers kept turning a blind eye to his behaviour. I did get suspended for shabbing on Carlos's duty but the charge got dismissed by senior management and I was given my job back. At the time I thought I was cutting my walk but the 'lino' (I like that term, it's better than the term 'S&M' that I coined) saw it as an opportunity to stamp his inconsistent authority. That same lino was a mate of Carlos's. Carlos, and the lino, are gone now, and that's why I could write about them.

Most of the book is fiction and there is a reason for that: if I wrote a non-fiction book I would get people who still work at RMG into trouble. For that reason I put totally absurd flights of fancy into the book so that it could never be used as evidence against anyone – good or bad.

I wrote the book for myself and not for money which is the way a book should be written. It never set the world on fire nor did I expect it to but I'm glad I wrote it all the same. I mentioned in the book that there were a lot of people at the RMG who stand there on the sidelines of life slagging off the people who are trying to get on with their own life. And when they get home they go online to piss their self-loathing over other people's efforts. What makes their cat-calling all the more pathetic is that they haven't even read the book. I did notice that one of the pissy posters revealed an intimate knowledge of the self-publishing business which makes me think that he might harbour ambitions to write a book himself. But why do that, ay? When it's so much easier to hang around a chatgroup criticising other people's work – that you haven't read – cus by doing that you imply that you could do better yourself, if you tried. But you'll never try will you? Because to try and fail, as I have done, would be too much to bear. The fantasy is so much more comforting.

If you want to make a fool of me, write a better book. Go on. And I'll read it before I comment on it.

You remind me of the Tracksuit Wankah: he fancied himself as a player but when I confronted him – which I did on two occasions – he retreated into the shadows and slagged me off from there.

Also, I never ordered 500 copies: I'm not that stupid. But I have sold more than 500 copies and I get emails from posties all over the UK commending me for the book.

Incidentally, I work on an English language website in France now. The reason they gave me the job? Even though I have no education and 2 O' Levels to my name? It was because they read my book. So, perhaps it wasn't a total disaster.

It's been a few years now since I got thrown out of the DO for standing up to workplace bullying. I've been gone so long now that I sometimes, on a summer's day, get nostalgic for the job but when I hear your cheap comments I thank God that I am no longer there in the sorting hell with you spiteful bastards who just have to make a good job bad for the rest of us.

I don't think I'll write another book because, frankly, it's bloody hard work – took me about 6 months. But I am tempted to write a sequel to While You Were Out; it's gonna be called While You Were Online (subtitle: some of us went and got a life).

Jesus, I feel better for that, I tell you what: these chatgroups are really great for venting your spleen.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

[agriculturalperson]

top read and very funny I read it some time ago and as time has worn on the terminology in the book has become part of our workplace culture in our delivery office, the writer is clearly in touch with the pulse of what actually goes on in RM DO offices

[General Mannerheim]

Passive aggressive trollers How's that work then?
I prefer Waldof and Stadler but whatever floats your boat.

The main trouble with people like you Rainmaker is that you make wide assumptions,I did read your work of `fiction` as you put it (mainly when I went for a s**t in our bogs at work,you see i looked on it as if there was no bog paper at least it would come in handy)and I found it a chore,full of stereotypical typecast `players` and your last few chapters about going to a tribunal had me in stitches but for all the right reasons which I won't go into on here.

might send a out a few free copies to board members (but just the nice ones), I got about 500 in the garage -- in amongst all the door 2 door leaflets.]

but then you say here:

Also, I never ordered 500 copies: I'm not that stupid

So that was a bit of fiction as well then ,but nice of you to mention how all us posties don't do our door 2 doors as we are all tarred with the same brush in your work of `fiction so that's okay then.

If you want to make a fool of me, write a better book. Go on. And I'll read it before I comment on it.

No I and I'm sure Dvb don't want to make a fool of you,your doing just fine as it is,as to writing a book,nah can't be bothered as you see I'm far too knackered after working a shift at my own shithole and looking after my family than to write something that panders to my own ego.
But I'm glad your efforts paid off and you are living in France.
P.S nice to have you back it was getting a bit boring around here.

[NWpostie]

Regardless of the fact whether its a work of fiction or not, I think some of us will have seen something like happening in some of our offices, which I think we can all understand to some extent, I would imagine that for legal reasons he could not describe and name all the individuals in Croydon DO, to me I think Rainmaker has written this book as an act of catharsis to what must have been a trying experience considering the fact he could have been made financially destitute if he had lost the tribunal, was the tribunal worth it ? could he have tried a different way and still be in RM we will never know. I will say he looks like he is somewhere better and considering the way the Privatisation is going he has probably made the right choice, I can understand the Nostalgia part, its like the Army I have many ex squaddies who sometimes turn up and talk about the old day of comradeship, the buzz and rarely about the bad bits.

I have been contacted by a member of the forum who knows people in Croydon and he has confirmed that a lot of what has gone on in the book is very close to what has happened in Croydon DO.

Has Butch left by the way ? he must be getting on for that. what a turncoat he is.

[dvbuk55]

Well I don't really want to read about something that is a daily, weekly, annual, bi-annual or any other time scale, occurrence in an average delivery office. When I see programmes on the TV about a supermarket, lorry drivers, office workers I switch off/over. It is simply not entertaining. I don't understand people who want to identify with characters from a book either fictional or not. I wouldn't want to give the impression that I am a philistine because I am an avid reader but not of works of semi fiction which reflects the actuality that is a postmans' daily life - been there, done that and have several t-shirts.