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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

… to think that the postman should take his earphones out when delivering the mail?

180 replies

Thunderpat · 02/12/2021 12:56

My postman wears earphones when he is delivering the mail. This is annoying, but is it actually something that he shouldn’t do?

I have a newborn and live in a tall skinny house which means that I am usually doing something with the baby at the top of the house when he rings. I try calling to him out of the window (he can’t hear me) or grabbing baby and running down three flights of stairs, but by the time I get to the door he is well on his way up the road with his earphones in and a cheery spring in his step.

AIBU to think that he should take his earphones out when delivering the mail?

OP posts:
Iamkmackered1979 · 02/12/2021 14:22

Not sure why you take the baby. Long as they are in a cot etc they are safe. Running down 3 flights of stairs is safer done without your baby. Put a note on your door. Or get a ring doorbell.

Crunchymum · 02/12/2021 14:23

[quote Thunderpat]@Thursdaymiami no - not my first born. Oh dear. What’s your point?[/quote]
Well how did you navigate this soul destroying situation with your other baby/ies?

5keletor · 02/12/2021 14:23

Sorry but chasing him down the street in your bare feet 😂 poor guy must have been terrified!
I'd think my neighbour had lost it if I saw that, either that or they'd just missed delivery of the Koh-I-Noor diamond. 🤣

fruitbrewhaha · 02/12/2021 14:25

@CatJumperTwat

The world doesn't revolve around you!
Except he is providing a service and doing a bad job of it.

He can move one side to the side to listen out if he could be bothered.

Mumoblue · 02/12/2021 14:27

YABU. His job is to deliver post, and he’s doing it.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 02/12/2021 14:28

Except he is providing a service and doing a bad job of it

His Job is to deliver the post. Where is he going wrong? Knock/ring, wait, leave. That's it.

Maybe if the OP is so desperate to accept in her many parcels, she could spend some time on the ground floor of her home around the time he usually comes, or wait one single time so she can catch him and ask him to give her longer to get down the stairs.

SleighbellsZ · 02/12/2021 14:29

Except he is providing a service and doing a bad job of it.
He can move one side to the side to listen out if he could be bothered

I don't understand this.
The service he is providing is delivering post, which he is trying to do.
It's not his job to look out for people chasing him barefoot because they have a newborn.

If anything, if op is having such a hard time getting downstairs she should get them delivered to a shop to collect, knowing she can't make the door?

BIWI · 02/12/2021 14:30

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that every time he comes you're upstairs. Unless you choose to be upstairs all the time, in which case you know it's going to present an issue for getting to the postman in time.

You don't need to be running down the stairs with the baby either, as PP have said.

And the sly insinuation that he's somehow happy about you missing him is ridiculous:

"by the time I get to the door he is well on his way up the road with his earphones in and a cheery spring in his step."

The world does not revolve around you and your baby. Being a postman/woman is a thankless task at this time of the year, so why not have some empathy and show some understanding?

Kotatsu · 02/12/2021 14:31

Bloody hell OP you're getting a hard time for a reasonable question...

I live in Ireland, Irish Posties are FANTASTIC. When I moved in (to two different houses, 2 different posties, and then occasionally substitutes), the postman made a point of knocking on the door and having a chat to find out the names of who lived here. My postie has my mobile number, so he can call and ask about leaving parcels (he has to ask each time, I can't leave a standing order, although I do have a postbox for small stuff). He notices stuff, if I had a baby or an injury I'd just let him know and he'd happily post stuff through a window or whatever. It's a point of pride that they're so good at their jobs.

He does wear headphones sometimes, but puts it back on one ear when knocking at a house. Ie. a reasonable compromise.

BIWI · 02/12/2021 14:32

... anyway AS makes me think I've been suckered into a thread.

SpiderinaWingMirror · 02/12/2021 14:33

Just stick a note on the door!
Dear Postie/Delivery Driver. The house has 3 floors so please leave enough time for me to get there! Cheers!
That's what dd does. It works about 75% of the time.

ThinWomansBrain · 02/12/2021 14:38

it's a shit job, and I doubt he is given enough time to hang around for five minutes at every doorstep.
get a video doorbell that links to your phone and tell him to leave it on the step ore wherever.
I think they flash or light up when someone speaks, so he'd notice it.

FlickerBeat · 02/12/2021 14:40

The world does not revolve around your baby.

Leave the poor guy alone ffs.

fruitbrewhaha · 02/12/2021 14:40

The situation as I was seeing it was that OP hears the doorbell, opens the window to shout down but he can't hear, she grabs baby and makes it down the stairs to open the door to see him walking away and calls out which again he doesn't hear.

Of course he can listen to audio while making deliveries but he ought to be able to be contactable in some way. If he is knocking on the door to get a signature he may need to converse with whomever opens the door, would he just stand there and say "sorry can't hear you"?

I could walk into a bar, point at a beer tap and hold out 2 fingers, the bar tender would hold up a pint glass and I'd nod yes. It can all be done without speaking but I wouldn't do it wearing headphones so no one could speak to me.

Perhaps he should have the audio at a lower volume?

LittlestLightOnTheXmasTree · 02/12/2021 14:42

I think people are missing the fact op has a BABY!!

mug2018 · 02/12/2021 14:48

YABU - the pistões by me walk up to 10 miles a day ... very dull without something to keep you going. Have a little compassion

idontlikealdi · 02/12/2021 14:49

Put a sign on the door. Having a baby isn't a disability and the fact you live in a town house isn't the posties fault ffs.

RestingPandaFace · 02/12/2021 14:51

@Thunderpat

Where I used to live, the postman heard my elderly neighbour calling out when she had fallen down the stairs - she wouldn’t have stood much chance with this guy, though.
Which is lovely, but it’s not his job! His job is to deliver post, you can do that with earphone in.
regthetabbycat · 02/12/2021 14:51

Our postman is deaf. Should he not be employed, OP?

ChangeChingyChange · 02/12/2021 14:52

@BigYellowHat

Could you put a sign on the door for him saying it might take you a few minutes to answer. I did this when I broke my leg and it was fine.
Do this
TrashyPanda · 02/12/2021 14:55

Except he is providing a service and doing a bad job of it

Oh no he isnt!

What oud you say that if he had a hearing impairment?

Hearing is required for some jobs, like audio engineers. It is not essential for a postie

dustandfluf · 02/12/2021 14:57

@Justmuddlingalong

It's not his problem that you have a newborn, live in a 3 storey house and are often at the top of it when he's trying to deliver post. He's got a job to do and his round would take twice as long if he had to wait for people to accept parcels I presume they've ordered and are expecting.
This. Husband is a post man. He delivers to over 300 houses a day. They don't have time to wait a few minutes at every house just incase someone is 3 flights up. He wears headphones because it's lonely walking the streets on your own for 8/9/10 hours a day.
TrashyPanda · 02/12/2021 14:57

"by the time I get to the door he is well on his way up the road with his earphones in“

He can’t be that far away if you can see his earphones are in.

WrongWayApricot · 02/12/2021 14:59

Put a note on the door telling him to look up at the window.

Glittertwins · 02/12/2021 15:00

You could get a Ring / other type of doorbell that allows you to speak to the poor guy immediately so you don't feel you have to race downstairs. Wasn't his choice to live in what appears to be an impractical house 🙂