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BURNET — Burnet Post Office employee Janis Spears still laughs about a conversation she had shortly after moving to the city.
She was working the window one day when a customer asked her who she was and where she was originally from — to which Spears replied, “Lampasas.”
“Well,” she recalled the customer answering, “that’s pretty local, so I guess we’ll let you stay.”
That was 20 years ago. Since then, Spears turned a part-time job into a full-time clerk position and has earned three Locals Love Us awards for favorite Burnet-area postal worker voted on by The Picayune readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners.
The honor, she said, doesn’t get tiresome.
“It’s always nice to know people appreciate you,” she said. “Customer service is something we strive for.”
To be effective, she added, it’s beneficial to know the families the post office serves. It also helps to realize a simple truth.
“It’s something new every day,” she said. “Most people think it’s boring, but it’s not. A lot of people would think it’s the same stuff. I think the conversations are different.”
Becoming a postal service employee required passing a test, which she did, and then biding her time as a rural carrier substitute. She worked no more than two days a week and had to sort the mail and and packages before she delivered them.
Once she became a full-time employee, she continued to work her way up to being a clerk. That means she stays at the post office and continues to receive and hand out mail and parcels.
Winning another Locals Love Us honor simply confirms putting customers first is the key, and she was grateful for the ballots
“I appreciate all the votes, I really do,” she said. “It’s a real honor get this award.
“Maybe I’ve worked my way into that clique now,” she added with a laugh.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
