Rimple Gill
Age: 55
Pronouns: she/her
City: Blaine
Lived here for: 15 years
Originally from: Firozpur in Punjab, India
Notable: 26 years with the U.S. Postal Service, avid reader, mother, football fan
Is being a bulk mail technician busier during the holidays?
Very much so. My Christmas starts at the end of September because we start to get a lot of bulk mail from different places. And then we have one big mailer coming from Canada. They send out calendars all through the United States. I am going to get 17 pallets from them today (Nov. 15). I have to weigh those, then put them in a certain place. Then I go into my computer and get to know what verifications I have — if I have to check the weight, if I have to check the contents — different verifications. If it’s done according to our standards, that is when I come back and fill out the paperwork.
What do you like about your job?
Everything! I am very much a numbers person. I am very good at mathematics. With that being said, with bulk mail especially, all I’m doing is crunching numbers all day long. I just love that. When we say working with the post office, it’s not just a job, I consider it a career. I could’ve gone into management, but no, I like this particular job. I’ve done everything. I’ve done the window, I’ve done the box section. Everything.
How long have you worked at this post office?
Since 2013. For five years I was with Point Roberts. Started in Bellevue. We used to live in Everett. Got the (first) job in 1997. In 2008 we moved to Blaine because I have family across the border. My sister is there, lots of my mom’s family. My husband’s family is also there.
Did you have any mentors who helped you along the way?
One would be Lisa Jackson, she was my co-worker in Point Roberts. She showed me how to make each transaction personal. And not a transaction, and not a customer. It’s friends. The second person who I would give a lot of thanks is the lady who was doing bulk mail here, Mary Richards. I learned everything from her. She was in bulk mail for 25 years. She knew things that are not even in the manual, and passed them on to me.
What are your hobbies when you’re not working?
I love reading. It just transports me to that place wherever I’m reading. It could be a different culture. It could be a different thing. Also, I used to play basketball in India. We didn’t have football back in India. We had soccer. So when I first came, I’m thinking, ‘What kind of game is this?’ American football. My kids, when they went to school, they played tag football. They told me the rules. Now I can sit and watch that game all day.
What else do you want people to know?
I love my job, I love this place, and I make it personal every time. With every customer, it’s personal. Every day. That sense of accomplishment that you get out of doing that by far is the best thing that you can ever do. You don’t need a sleeping pill to go to sleep at night because you have contentment in you. I touch the pillow and I’m out.
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