Postal elves give gift of service for Fayetteville customers

Source: The Fayetteville Observer, N.自存倉C.Dec. 23--Tyna Woods placed the large Macy's box on the counter and asked the sales service associate at the U.S. Postal Service about shipping costs and arrival times.The package of handcrafted gifts for her 27-year-old daughter had to arrive in Wyoming by Christmas, she said.It was Woods' second trip to the post office on a recent Monday."My morning has flown by," she said. "I haven't done anything but come to the post office, go home and pack more gifts."Woods had additional gifts at home to send to South Carolina, Tennessee and other parts of North Carolina.She thanked the postal worker for her service and quickly made her way toward the doors.A steady stream of customers continued to drop off Christmas packages and cards at Fayetteville's main post office in the J.L. Dawkins building on Green Street. They were trying to beat the deadline to ship gifts.Postal workers loaded carts with packages and colorful holiday envelopes behind the counters.In the post office's plant, postal workers manned sorting machines and loaded mailed into crates.More than one million packages, letters and cards left the Fayetteville post offices Dec. 16, this year's busiest mailing day for the holiday season, said Monica Robbs, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service. Nationwide, the Postal Service expected to p迷你倉ocess about 607 million pieces of mail, more than the average daily volume of 528 million pieces.Robbs described the postal workers as elves."They are a huge part of the puzzle," she said as she walked through the loading dock. "They make it happen."Robert Johnson Jr., who has worked at the post office for 16 years, said employees came in early to help handle the Christmas rush. His usual start time is 3:30 p.m. He came in at 11 a.m.Johnson's job is to pick up mail that is kicked out of one of the machines."What I look forward to is getting the packages out and starting the new year right," Johnson said. "We always know that it is a hectic time of year.''On the other side of the building, Barbara Hudson walked back and forth picking up mail that was pushed out of the delivery bar code sorter. Hudson, who was wearing a Santa hat that plays "Holly Jolly" Christmas, said she loves this time of the year."The guys are often out later than they are supposed to be trying to get those last packages out," she said. "I really love seeing that. It makes me proud."___Staff writer Venita Jenkins can be reached at jenkinsv@fayobserver.com or 486-3511.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at .fayobserver.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage