Doubts In My Head

Decky Boy · Post by **Decky Boy** » 10 Mar 2019, 21:23

What an incredible piece of writing Crimson King. I think we can all relate to the situations you portray. You have an astute eye and deliver a lucid insight into the lives of many an overworked postman/woman !

I found great light and optimism within the darkness of it all. Thankyou so much for sharing your feelings with us. . . AND KEEP ON WRITING

DannyAgar91 · Post by **DannyAgar91** » 11 Mar 2019, 11:31

This is outstanding and sums Royal Mail up perfectly, I lasted a week and returned to my previous job luckily enough for me! Wouldn’t say bullying was an issue for me obviously because it was so early on but you could tell there was a culture of it and a horrible atmosphere to go with it, seen a few post of people saying we whinge on about nothing but I’m someone who likes to be organised and know what’s I’m doing, happy to learn new things but it’s hard to do that when you won’t even be shown where to go on new rounds and so on, I feel all of your pain and hope you can leave RM ASAP, worst experience ever!

gerrys · Post by **gerrys** » 12 Mar 2019, 15:31

Great post can relate to a lot of what you have written;wish I had your talent for putting my thoughts to paper.....KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

Dorset Plodder · Post by **Dorset Plodder** » 13 Mar 2019, 08:29

Sorry the Job's grinding you down CK. We've all been there, at some time, unfortunately

Sometimes it's just a Bad Patch and often you can sign for a new duty, or transfer DOs, and things pick up.

I find a Radio, or MP3 player, with headphones helps wonderfully. Plug in and switch off. Get on with the bits you hate and just ignore the idiots. If you've got a Posh Mobile you can download audio books, blogs, music and God Knows what nowadays. Load up a few piccies of the Wife & Kids, a quick scroll through will pick you up and remind you of why you're putting up with the crap. As a long term strategy if the job's getting you down that much consider finding another one.

Hope things pick up as the weather improves, on a lighter side send your Poem to the Courier ..... see what they say.

crimson king · Post by **crimson king** » 14 Mar 2019, 13:22

Dorset Plodder wrote:Sorry the Job's grinding you down CK. We've all been there, at some time, unfortunately Sometimes it's just a Bad Patch and often you can sign for a new duty, or transfer DOs, and things pick up.

I find a Radio, or MP3 player, with headphones helps wonderfully. Plug in and switch off. Get on with the bits you hate and just ignore the idiots. If you've got a Posh Mobile you can download audio books, blogs, music and God Knows what nowadays. Load up a few piccies of the Wife & Kids, a quick scroll through will pick you up and remind you of why you're putting up with the crap. As a long term strategy if the job's getting you down that much consider finding another one.

Hope things pick up as the weather improves, on a lighter side send your Poem to the Courier ..... see what they say.

Thanks, Dorset. I'm all right though- writing is good therapy and at my age I know there are ups and downs and there are plenty of ups in this job (fresh air and exercise at the top of the list). Funnily enough, in the past I have scrolled to a pic of my daughters to keep myself calm and from flying off the handle or saying something I'd regret.

I also like the suggestion of sending it to the Courier, but I can already imagine their response:

"Thank you for writing in. We have read your poem with interest and would remind you that there is a perfectly ineffectual Bullying & Harassment Helpline for you to waste your time with until you accept that the beatings will continue until morale improves. And don't forget to take your lapsing in the morning."

And don't worry, long term strategy is to stick it out. Once I'm out in that fresh air doing the job, it's the best job in the world- can't imagine doing anything else now

Kesknight · Post by **Kesknight** » 16 Mar 2019, 14:35

barcajr wrote:I must be the only one on this site who in my twenty eight years with Royal Mail, never been bullied

I 've worked for Royal Mail for 32 years and i've never been bullied or seen anyone being bullied.

Ren Hoëk · Post by **Ren Hoëk** » 16 Mar 2019, 17:50

Kesknight wrote:
barcajr wrote:I must be the only one on this site who in my twenty eight years with Royal Mail, never been bullied
I 've worked for Royal Mail for 32 years and i've never been bullied or seen anyone being bullied.

Considering your length of service there is a good chance you have become what they call "Institutionalised". You may not have allowed yourself to be bullied or harassed but I'm almost certain people around you will have been. You just may not have considered it that. I can assure you there are management practices and attitudes in DO's that 100% would not fly in a modern British office. My boss tries it on with me and gets nowhere but he will prey on new and weak members of staff and you can tell it effects them. They worry and stress their way through the day all because of the harassment and pressure the DOM puts on them. He will target them when sending people out of the office etc. The worst thing is the more senior members see it going on and will do NOTHING to help because it's not happening to them. We talk of solidarity. Where is it? I don't see it.

DB1100 · Post by **DB1100** » 16 Mar 2019, 19:50

Kesknight wrote:
barcajr wrote:I must be the only one on this site who in my twenty eight years with Royal Mail, never been bullied
I 've worked for Royal Mail for 32 years and i've never been bullied or seen anyone being bullied.

I've been here for nearly 20 years and seen lots of bullying,folk being reduced to tears,some managers are better than others,but many are terrible

Dorset Plodder · Post by **Dorset Plodder** » 17 Mar 2019, 13:05

Ren Hoëk wrote:
Kesknight wrote:
barcajr wrote:I must be the only one on this site who in my twenty eight years with Royal Mail, never been bullied
I 've worked for Royal Mail for 32 years and i've never been bullied or seen anyone being bullied.
Considering your length of service there is a good chance you have become what they call "Institutionalised". You may not have allowed yourself to be bullied or harassed but I'm almost certain people around you will have been. You just may not have considered it that. I can assure you there are management practices and attitudes in DO's that 100% would not fly in a modern British office. My boss tries it on with me and gets nowhere but he will prey on new and weak members of staff and you can tell it effects them. They worry and stress their way through the day all because of the harassment and pressure the DOM puts on them. He will target them when sending people out of the office etc. The worst thing is the more senior members see it going on and will do NOTHING to help because it's not happening to them. We talk of solidarity. Where is it? I don't see it.

Well said Ren.

You're spot on. A lot of Posties consider Bullying to be a more physical thing like shouting, or assaulting someone. We all know it can be much more subtle than that, but can be just as damaging. Not everyone is a strong , confident person (I'm sure a lot of the people that say I've never been bullied are) and bullies tend to have a knack of identify Soft Targets. It's not good enough to say "Man Up" or "Just Grow a Pair" a lot of these practices just need to be stamped out. Sometimes it's not just the DOM that's causing stress.

Recently we had a Colleague who was getting well stressed because they kept getting told they'd have to change duties, and start/finish times. This was being engineered by several other Colleagues (who had their own agenda). To cut a long story short I told them to go and see the CWU Rep, and because they had legitimate caring responsibilites they kept their Duty. The DOM wasn't bullying them but by allowing other Posties to behave in that way, and not making a decision himself, he was allowing it to happen. TBH I don't think he realised what was going on, because he was a decent guy, but the Postie was still well stressed.