Incredible Woman #53 - Joy Bossi. Being a Mailman and Grandma...

Kara: "One of the most interesting things you told me about yourself was that you were the first female mailman (person?) in Salt Lake! Tell us all about that. When was it? What did your job entail?"

Joy: "The summer of 1967, the Civil Rights Act was extended to gov’t employees, including the Postal Service. Until that time men were carriers, women were clerks. The pay differential was 3 times the clerk for the carrier. Because I scored very high on the Civil Service Exam they were required to offer me a carrier position – after vigorously trying to talk me out of the “exceptionally hard” job. I needed the money for my next year in College and took the Carrier position. At that time my 5’2” little self was only 125 lbs – fairly slim and trim. There wasn’t a female uniform so they settled on knee length shorts with loops for a belt (a zillion keys to carry), pastel blouse, knee socks (white) and boat shoes. BUT I still needed to wear a regulation blue/grey carrier’s hat. Kids on my route called me ‘Mrs. Mailman’. I delivered mail on many routes, filling in for carriers on vacation; I had a regular pickup route in the Avenues; delivered parcels and had a regular Special Delivery (‘Speedies’) route on Saturdays."

Kara: "You’re a grandma now, right? How is being a grandma different from being a mom? What is your favorite thing about having grandkids?"

Joy: "I now have 2 grandchildren: Linus born 5/04/05, and Wren born 10/09/10. The biggest difference between mom and grandmom is that I am rarely on 24 hour duty. The worries, laughs, wonderment are all a little sharper and more deeply felt because I know my time with them is relatively limited. Not just by distance, they live in Pittsburgh, but by length of life. I may be blessed to see great grandchildren, but that is certainly not a given."

Tomorrow I'll talk to Joy about her gardening consulting business, her morning talk show, and her website! Don't miss it!