In the Blink of an Eye
You come to work each day with many things running through your mind. You go through the day on auto pilot delivering the mail. Your mind is on other things, family, school functions, yard work, etc. You expect to finish your route, drive back to the office, clock out and return home to your family. It is your normal routine and it does not vary too much on a daily basis. This is how most of us work each and every monotonous day. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
I was sitting thinking about my years as a carrier and full time officer. The people I meet and the carriers I represent. The good and the bad we all go through it. My mind drifted to Mike Martinez. A friend and letter carrier who went through the same routines we all have done over the years. I am sure when he woke up on April 11, 2017 he had the same thoughts he had as always. Not giving any thought to danger. Mike was delivering his mail the same way as always when an impaired driver crashed into the back of his truck where he was standing. His life altered forever at that moment. Mike has made great strides during a difficult recovery period. The fact is, by the grace of God he is still here with us.
A year later another carrier I have been honored to represent, Rob Rotondo, was not as fortunate. I am sure he went through the same routines as Mike and the rest of us. I was told he was in good spirits that morning in early 2018. No problems at work and a loving daughter at home. He got in his vehicle to bring it to the loading area. Something went horribly wrong and he hit a building walkup ramp. He hit his head on the steering wheel. He was in a coma for approximately one month before he passed away.
This made me think of what I have read over the past 5 months in the Postal Record. During these 5 months we have lost 4 letter carriers who were killed on duty. 3 were murdered and the other killed in a head-on crash by a driver running from police pursuit. Each one of these carriers went to work believing they would return home to their loved ones after a hard day’s work. They did not.
These are things that happen out of the blue. We always think “that won’t happen to me”. The reality is these brothers and sisters all thought the same way. Unfortunately, it happens too frequently to just brush it off.
The point of this article is to remind you that tomorrow is not promised to any one of us. There are no guarantees in life. There are cautions we should all take to minimize theses type of incidents, to lessen the odds of something bad happening. Wearing a seatbelt is a major one. Not rushing to get done by taking shortcuts to get done early. Not paying attention to our surroundings creates more of a problem then you know. Distracted driving has become one of the most dangerous issues of our times. There are many ways to make the odds more favorable to get through the day safely. Just thinking “it can’t happen to me” is not one of them.
You go to work healthy; you want to go home healthy. Your family is waiting so please be aware. Pay attention and don’t take shortcuts that would tilt the odds the other way.
In the blink of an eye it could be you.
On a side note; I have seen many carriers who pass away and never updated their information. People get divorced, die or just fall out of your life. When you filled out beneficiary cards you named them as benefactors or you put down as executor for your estate. A lot of things happen over your lifetime and we have a tendency to drift away from people as we age. If you do not update your information from time to time, it can get very sticky if something goes wrong. It may seem morbid but it is a very important issue. Review your will and beneficiary cards. Make sure the people who are most important today are taken care of.
