MeanMaryJean, you make some very good points there.
However, playing the Devil's Advocate here--I work for USPS and basically they have an on/off hiring freeze. Yes, they hire still hire people, but that's because other people are leaving. New jobs aren't being created so much as being consolidated and given to younger workers more willing and able to have a "temporary" job that works you six or even seven days a week. Since Paul is a regular (being optimistic here), he CAN transfer out of his office to another office, but then finding the one you want is more of a problem. The postal service attracts some of the best people, but it also attracts some of the worst. The worst will either flame out or they make management. A really great seeming office can hide a psycho as your boss. I run a small office which is a satellite of larger one. The larger one has seen a high turnover for postmasters. Some were mediocre, others were bat-**** crazy, and a few rare ones were very good. I have a very good one right now. But in any case, Paul would be at a disadvantage of knowing what sort of person he'd be working for the further away he got from his office. Local, yes, the reputation is known by other offices, but that many states away would be hard to know what to believe. Maybe he got good reports for Bozeman. Maybe offices closer than eight hours from his children were either not available because the old-timers aren't retiring, or maybe they have some sketchy or bad bosses, or maybe Bozeman seemed like the right place for him. Paul could've chosen that city because of the location was close to what interested him, beyond just being near his children. By the way, I'm in Washington State, and Eastern Washington. Montana is far but can be driven in a day. I've never just made a day trip there (although have been to Missoula half dozen times or more) but an hour and a half is almost nothing, especially if you want to drive around because you have nothing better to do. Going for a drive is something that I've done myself, sometimes for an hour, sometimes three hours. Not to say Paul's mindset was the same as mine. And when I think about it, not knowing him whatsoever, my opinion is that he probably went for a drive, went to check out the river, and had an unfortunate accident. I don't think anything criminal happened to him, nor do I think he did himself in. All the postal workers I've known over the years have had a really strong will to live. That sounds strange, but given how hard it is to work for the postal service, and how the public generally doesn't appreciate how hard it is, you really have to be flat out tough as nails. Some of them turn to booze, others turn to religion, humor or charity work, or all of the above to cope with the negativity. It isn't just the hours, it's the intense mental, physical stress added to the emotional stress of dealing with bad bosses, bad co-workers, and bad relations with some members of the public. Before I come off sounding cynical about the public, my experience is that most people are decent, and they want to be happy, and they don't want to be jerks, unless they feel their happiness is being threatened. And even jerks have their good qualities. It's very rare to meet anyone who appears to be flat out evil.
I'll never write a post and try to do housework at the same time again, LOL. I hope I said something useful :thinking:
