Postal Pam
Edmond, OK | June, 2020
It’s a busy day at the Edmond FedEx. Everyone in the store is wearing face masks, seeing as restrictions from COVID-19 are still at play. It is about fifteen minutes before closing and I am standing in a line that spills out of the front doors into the parking lot.
Pam is assisting the same shipping customer as thirty minutes ago.
Pam is a middle aged woman who types with her pointer finger and wears a face mask below her chin. The person at her register appears to be trying to ship a bedroom lamp. Pam, seeing as she left her good reading glasses at home, has restarted the shipping process more than once because the “gosh darn keys are so close together on this machine.” After hitting the wrong button once again, her co-worker abandons her post at the long line of customers to come to Pam’s rescue. A few simple clacks of the keys from the co-worker, and the lamp is ready for shipping.
To my great fortune, I was next in line for Pam’s register. I was shipping out a batch of wildflower books in 6x9 bubble envelopes. Pam thanked me for not having “something crazy like that lamp” to ship. With the line dwindling, due to people in the parking lot giving up hope for the night, Pam relaxed and immersed herself in conversation. A few things I involuntarily learned about Pam while she henpecked the keyboard:
Her grandbaby goes to school around the corner. Sometimes they have lunch together.
Pam’s been married so long, she can’t remember when she didn’t have her husband to feed.
She “sure do love the wildflowers, but only from the car because of that darn pollen.”
Pam’s co-worker continued to assist the line of last minute customers, typing with impressive proficiency and an undoubtedly sweaty upper lip underneath her face mask. Just as I was turning toward the door and thanking Pam for her help, I heard it.
I heard the noise of a cancelled order, the same noise that tormented the customer in line before me. “Whoops! I musta hit the wrong button. What was them addresses you said?” It’s now 15 minutes after closing and I learned one last thing about Pam.
4. Pam is dyslexic.