The beeping of the truck backing up to deliver, the banging of packages being stacked up in the back room and the sorting of bags of letters are the sounds of a typical day in the mailroom.
Every time a student receives a package and approaches the window to retrieve it, the same petite brunette with a bubbly personality greets them. She’s always full of conversation and tries to keep up with the latest news and information to be more than just the “mail-lady” to the students.
That petite brunette is Lisa Shaw. She grew up in Wilkes-Barre and now resides in the Sweet Valley area in Northeastern Pennsylvania with her husband. She married young, she said, and now has three daughters.
Before Shaw started working at MU she worked at J.P. Mascaro and Son, a trash hauling company, with her husband, brothers-in-law and daughters. She worked for Sallie Mae for 15 years as a supervisor and trainer.
Wanting to find something new, she came across an online posting for a position at the mail room.
Shaw’s favorite part about her job is the students. She is known for having an open door policy with the students.
“They give me life. I like to think I have become friends with some of them, and I’m always here to talk if they need something,” she said.
While she loves chatting with the co-eds, Shaw enjoys working with them as well.
“Everybody comes in and does what they need to do,” Shaw said, “They know their responsibilities and attend to them very well.”
A typical day starts with opening at 8:30 a.m. Workers wait until the mail arrives and then the tasks begin. Separating and sorting as they go, workers place the mail into each student’s mailbox. Then they write the packing slips. They use a system alphabetically organized packages so workers can easily find them when students come to pick them up. Workers have about an hour and a half lunch and open back up around 1 p.m. The rest of the day consists of the same activities, until closing at 4:30 p.m.
The pace of the mailroom fluctuates on how busy the day is.
“Our most busy time in the beginning of each semester when students book orders start coming in,” Shaw said, “Which usually runs until early November.”
For the rest of November business is pretty slow, but once the Christmas season hits, students start receiving packages of gifts to take home, or packages sent from home.
“Any holiday is a busy time for us, Valentine’s Day is a big one,” Shaw said. “During a busy time like that we can get up to 300 packages a day.”
During the slower months and days Shaw sais she cannot help but overhear the conversations students have outside of the mail room.
“Some of the things the students say are a riot, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just funny because they don’t realize I can hear them talking,” Shaw said.
Shaw makes an effort to join in on the conversation topic, and sometimes, if students are singing a song, she will join in or finish the lyrics.
Shaw even likes to pull a small practical joke once in a while.
“One time, a girl was getting her mail from her mailbox and I stuck my hand through the opposite side, Shaw said, “I scared her so badly, she didn’t talk to me for almost a whole semester.”
For her own entertainment Shaw loves to watch the “Golden Girls” on television. She loves jams out to the oldies, but she is open to listen to anything, she said.
Her favorite place to shop isn’t at a traditional mall or shopping centers, either. For her, it’s Tractor Supply, Lowe’s and Home Depot. Shaw’s favorite pastime is spending time with her five grandchildren, she said.