When Kristi Hanna’s children were young, she gave up her job as a schoolteacher and took a position as a temporary letter carrier.
Twenty years later, she’s still with USPS.
“I should’ve asked how long ‘a little while’ was,” Hanna, now a rural carrier in Maryville, MO, told the Daily Forum newspaper last week.
Hanna spends three hours in the office sorting mail each workday, and then she loads it into her own car for delivery. Her route covers almost 65 miles and includes 585 mailboxes.
During her career, Hanna has delivered all kinds of interesting things — bumpers, tires, antique cash registers, quail eggs, hula hoops, bees and chickens.
“I’d have to say the oddest thing was when I delivered 4,000 earthworms in six big boxes,” she said. “This guy’s house was four and a half hours into the route, and I kept thinking, ‘I hope that these things live.’”
Hanna said she loves the area she serves.
When the weather gives her trouble or there is a problem with her vehicle, there’s always a farmer ready with an air compressor or a cold drink.
“I enjoy interacting with the customers,” she said.