Spring Break
They've got our mail
Joseph Nicolello
Issue date: 2/3/08 Section: Campus Life
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Three full-time and three part-time workers take care of the entire campus' mail in the mailroom and the adjacent receiving area making it one of NCC's demanding year 'round responsibilities. If the mailroom falls behind, NCC falls behind phenomenally.
A regular day in the mailroom entails managing 700 to 800 pieces of incoming U.S. mail, 5,000 outgoing pieces, unloading 2 ½ tons of freight, processing letters,, forklifts, and driving 75 miles to deliver 200-500 lbs. of supplies to off-campus sites in the Poconos.
"I usually don't make it to the Christmas party," says postal clerk/crew leader Bruce Ealer with a laugh, "The pallets stack too high in the meantime."
Hundreds of enveloped Flex cards and two boxes of campus publications came in through the door as he spoke.
Ealer's been handling the mailroom for 33 years and has seen NCC's metamorphic change "From 2x4 buildings to massive, multiple campuses."
The mailroom handles almost everything on campus except for the food. An hour can bring up to 25 skids into the routine. A skid is a wooden pallet stacked five feet by five feet with saran wrapped boxes, often filled with textbooks. Things don't slow down for the holidays, either, being just weeks from the new semester.
"There's downtime but we never find it," says postal clerk Don Corrow.
The guys do get a slight break. Outgoing mail is processed through automated software, also giving some bulk packages a discount. Their convenient effort saves the exchange students money, and pays off in different ways.
One exchange student would hang out in the mailroom, sending and receiving directly letters to and from Asia and talking with the guys. He was called to serve the army for a year, and upon his return received a gift of fresh venison from the guys.
"He took that meat and brought us back all kinds of dishes we'd never even heard of," says Ealer. "The job gives us all different perspectives on nationalities, and is a great thing for when future exchange students come around, looking for common ground."
"Bringing gratification to the foreign exchange students, receiving postcards from former students, and making residential students' lives easier is a perk of the job."
The mailroom employees have an extraordinary task to comply with, and seemingly take it in stride.
Ealer likes the rush, and though he's tried planning out his daily exercises over the years, it seems impossible. "I've got to readjust my priorities every five minutes," says Ealer.
Next time college paperwork's got you down, or if you're just passing through, stick your head into the mailing room and watch these guys keep the college up and running with a smile - if you can catch them; one mailroom staff member once wore a pedometer and clocked in six miles walking in one day.
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