The Tribe Has Spoken! Trivia Quiz

Answer: oath of office

This is the same oath of office that is given to the President of the United States and all military service members. You are not a member of American Postal workers until this oath is taken.

Answer: crafts

One craft doing the work of another isn't acceptable and may cause a grievance to be filed in protest. There are also Letter Carriers, Supervisors and Plant Managers who have their own tribes and sub-tribes.

Answer: tour

We have a Tour of Duty. The Processing and Distribution part of the Postal Service is never "closed". Three tours of duty operate around the clock. Tour I is usually from ten p.m. to six a.m., Tour II six a.m. to three p.m., and Tour III three p.m. to eleven p.m. Care is taken to stagger reporting times so there will be some overlap.

Answer: one half hour

Lunch times are set by the supervisors for the unit as a whole. All lunches are off the clock, unlike the two ten minute breaks which are paid breaks.
The supervisors assign lunch times according the needs of the service, trying to send the most people to lunch during the slowest time of the tour.

Answer: 30 days

The immediate supervisor rates your work, then discusses ways to improve on the quality of service. After the 90 day probation period your work is either deemed worthy and you are solidly hired, or you are let go to seek life elsewhere.

Answer: safety captain

The safety captains themselves meet once a week and discuss any accidents that have happened or unsafe practices they have noticed.

There is no additional pay for being a safety captain. Persons interested take a training course during working hours. The goal is to be accident free. Even an incident which is a near miss is to be reported, so that events can be studied to see if safer action can be taken.

Answer: red tag

Some red tags get removed by workers desperate for that piece of equipment. It's best to quickly safety check any of the more dangerous articles.
Equipment on wheels can be especially dangerous as tipping or falling can lead to a bad accident. A few seconds of inspection can save a broken body part.

Answer: flats

It is unacceptable to open these magazines. The address label is on the front cover.
Flats are sorted by machine or by hand according to the ZIP code.

Answer: back to sender if possible

Now you know how some of the mail can "go missing". Often press on labels can come loose and attach to another piece of mail. As far as possible mis-labeled mail is corrected and resent.

Answer: dead letter

These pieces of mail, whether letters, packages or flats, are labeled clearly and sent to dead letter. RIP
Sometimes a Postmaster will designate a task force near Christmas to answer letters from children to Santa. But this practice is fading as it isn't cost effective and is more of a goodwill gesture.