Roller coaster I: Get You (The Parents) Through Plebe Year - Class of ‘28 🎢

NavyHoops said:
It’s not unusual for their to be a massive backlog the first few weeks of Plebe Summer as they Post Office gets overwhelmed. It usually shakes loose and becomes more routine.
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Thanks! Her last letter said: I feel like I'm sending letters into the void. Are you mad at me? I haven't gotten any letters from you.
 
justdoit19 said:
Also, an aside: the worker in the post office are not USNA employees. There are two of them, and are USPS workers. And USPS doesn’t add staff for the massive influx that is plebe summer.

I would assume many plebes are in the same situation. So she won’t feel alone in this. And detailers are accustomed to it and would tell them. Don’t worry that she is feeling like y’all are ignoring her or forgot her.

It happens every year unfortunately.
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Thanks. It makes sense. And it's good to hear that she might not be the only one going through this. I would feel much worse if it was just her.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
Sorry, just need to say this ..... @PlebeNoMore27 is a frickin' gem. He and others who come back to share their insight and experiences are worth more than gold.

Bravo Zulu Midn 3/C PlebeNoMore27. Continue this way, and your enlisted will do anything to support you.
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Sir, thank you so much. Today was a travel day back to the Yard, and yesterday's snafus still aren't entirely worked out, so I'm hot and tired and a little tired of other people, if I can say that. Also I wondered if I was being too pushy here. Thanks for reminding me that a little bit of appreciation goes a long way. Also, sir, I'm female. But I took no offense at all.
 
Thrivalgardener said:
Thanks! Her last letter said: I feel like I'm sending letters into the void. Are you mad at me? I haven't gotten any letters from you.
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Wish they had the "care" reaction on the boards, I totally felt this pang. It took me 23 days (but who's counting) to get my first letter from home, and since I departed under a strain, I was sure dad was still mad I left home. That wasn't true at all, of course. Just three weeks to go until PPW. If you're going to be there, fantastic! If you can't make it for whatever reason, your DD will be adopted just like I was, all 3 days. Keep sending letters! They will eventually get to your plebe!
 
Thrivalgardener said:
Do they hold the mail away from the plebes? DD hasn't received any letters from me that I posted. Do I need to pay for certified delivery?
Her best friend has mailed her a letter every single day and she didn't get any of them until she got 13 after 2 weeks.
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I’ve seen a few different questions about withholding of mail. This may have happened in the past and definitely in the movies, but it does not happen these days (I believe it is actually against the law for the detailers to interfere with mail being delivered). However, as others have said it can take a long time for the large quantities of mail to be sorted (by hand) before it can be delivered to the plebes. Also, speaking from personal experience sometimes letters show up out of order with new letters being received before older ones.

As a side note, for similar reasons, while the detailers may inspect the contents of packages, the plebe must be the one to actually open the box and the box will be inspected with the plebe present.
 
bsp22 said:
I’ve seen a few different questions about withholding of mail. This may have happened in the past and definitely in the movies, but it does not happen these days (I believe it is actually against the law for the detailers to interfere with mail being delivered). However, as others have said it can take a long time for the large quantities of mail to be sorted (by hand) before it can be delivered to the plebes. Also, speaking from personal experience sometimes letters show up out of order with new letters being received before older ones.

As a side note, for similar reasons, while the detailers may inspect the contents of packages, the plebe must be the one to actually open the box and the box will be inspected with the plebe present.
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Speaking to this, during 2020 plebe summer many of us were trying to augment the limited things Covid caused. The two USPS workers could not possibly keep up. Move to the ac year and same need existed. So many limitations meant upper class and others were trying to obtain what they needed via Amazon. The postal annex was completely overrun. Somewhere I have images of cart upon cart stacked with boxes.

At one point they did an all call for not in ISO or quarantine to be all hands disseminating mail and boxes. It was insane.

I sent peanut butter and granola and vitamins. Some single serve native honey and granola bars. Also some dad jokes.

Point being mail is and always will be a wild card. Keep writing. Keep sending love from home and images and stories of normal life at home. They need to know life for you all keeps moving forward while they experience this new life journey.
 
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@PlebeNoMore27 , how after a year and a half of following your story did I not figure that one out??

Apologies for sure about mis-gendering! (But don't take it too personally. Even after being in the military for almost 3 years, I still called the 2nd set detailer in charge of us during my PS "Sir" a few times by habit. She wasn't super happy with me). ;)
 
Another interesting MAIL ROOM fact: it’s also against the law for ‘volunteers’ to go in and ‘help’ them. They are government employees.

God bless those poor workers. They must hate their jobs once a year.

Our ‘24 class even wanted to bring them a TY gift basket (via a local mom). But they cannot even receive a gift as a govt employee.

It’s just part of the experience. I imagine its difficult to get stuff when deployed, too.
 
justdoit19 said:
Another interesting MAIL ROOM fact: it’s also against the law for ‘volunteers’ to go in and ‘help’ them. They are government employees.

God bless those poor workers. They must hate their jobs once a year.

Our ‘24 class even wanted to bring them a TY gift basket (via a local mom). But they cannot even receive a gift as a govt employee.

It’s just part of the experience. I imagine its difficult to get stuff when deployed, too.
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More importantly, they are union employees. Some of the most arcane union work rules around. And letter carriers have a different union from the people who work in the post office locations.

For letter carriers, on M-F they have to work a full 8 hour shift no matter how quickly they do their route. We live on a dead end street and our carrier often parks under a shady tree and has a nap to take up the eight hours.

However, on Saturday or the day before a holiday, they deliver the mail as quickly as they can because their eight hour day ends as soon as they return to the depot.
 
Kid's quote as he returned to the Yard for block 3 training today:

"It's so weird seeing all the detailers behind the scenes."
 
Not sure if he'll live at home or at my parent's place in Annapolis if that happens. Either way, he'll be banking his BHA if he gets time here!
 
IronmanDaremo said:
Sorry, just need to say this ..... @PlebeNoMore27 is a frickin' gem. He and others who come back to share their insight and experiences are worth more than gold.

Bravo Zulu Midn 3/C PlebeNoMore27. Continue this way, and your enlisted will do anything to support you.
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Agreed! It is so cool to have actual MIDN on here offering their perspectives that only they can.
 
LT360 said:
So any reports on how second half of PS is going? Parents are you finding the groove? Have your finding Waldo skills improved?
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My Waldo is definitely getting bigger. Evenings are spent scouting facebook, instagram and Thorntons home brewed website for any possible injuries, smiles or signs of distress. So far so good. No concerns yet. The way I am looking at this if it worked for tens of thousands of people and over a thousand people today then it should work for DS as well.
 
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