Salut!

I heard on the radio that today is the busiest day of the year for the US Postal Service. Can anyone please explain the phenomenon of 'Going postal'? Of course it happens outside the US too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_postal_killings.

Is working for the post office high stress? This seems so, based on the number of these events. When I left the Army, I was very interested in being a letter carrier. They get great pay / benefits here in Canada.

In years past the US postal service had a very antagonistic work ethic from postal management towards its employees. So yes there was a great deal of stress. THe requirements for the job are pretty extreme. So not only is/was the work difficult to do the management antagonized the over stressed employees. most would quit. Some just came back with weapons.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Salut!

I heard on the radio that today is the busiest day of the year for the US Postal Service. Can anyone please explain the phenomenon of 'Going postal'? Of course it happens outside the US too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_postal_killings.

Is working for the post office high stress? This seems so, based on the number of these events. When I left the Army, I was very interested in being a letter carrier. They get great pay / benefits here in Canada.

Have you seen the movie "Going Postal" yet? It would explain a lot for you. :)

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5 held hostage at rural Virginia post office
(AP) – 41 minutes ago

WYTHEVILLE, Va. — An armed man took five people hostage Wednesday at a post office in a small, rural town, officials said.

Shots were fired, but there were no reports of injuries. Police cordoned off a three-block area, and Virginia State Police sent in a SWAT team and a bomb technician.

"We've got quite a few folks on the scene," said Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police. "The individual is still in the office."

Mayor Trent Crewe told The Associated Press five hostages were in the building, including three employees and two customers.

Postal worker Walt Korndorfer told the Wytheville Enterprise he was in the Main Street Post Office when he heard shots and a co-worker ran past. He followed suit.

Police advised employees at nearby businesses to get out of buildings surrounding the post office.

Wytheville is the county seat of Wythe County, a southwest Virginia locality with fewer than 30,000 people.

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5 held hostage at rural Virginia post office
(AP) – 41 minutes ago

WYTHEVILLE, Va. — An armed man took five people hostage Wednesday at a post office in a small, rural town, officials said.

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I do hope this has a happy ending for every one and that the hostage taker gets the help he obviously is in need of. Apparently the man is in a wheelchair and missing part of his leg. The man made no demands other than to ask for a pizza, said Pete Rendina, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCmLFkr4jMWR3Ys3be7wk9g-KX0AD9CP9T800

Another person who wants suicide by cop?!

Times are bad and getting worse.

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The hostage-taker has surrendered to the Police.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34577500/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Hi Niko.
As you are on Wikipedia they do give a good outline by way of definition of the term "going postal" at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/going_postal/
On the internet it often denotes "losing it" and is sometimes used to refer to executive stress. There are a number of other source origins to the term if you use your search engine to cross reference.
Generally [dependent on locale] postal workers can be divided into two broad categories indoor staff where mail is actually processed this would include clerks and management, and outdoor staff who hold the responsibility of delivering mail door to door.
Among the stress contenders are copious dust, repetitive routine, adverse weather, snarling dogs, snarling customers, and on occasion a snarling management. So paws [pause] for thought!...... L.O.L. Seasons Greetings friend.