San Juan post office clerk retires
Kathy Bessom, a nearly 40-year veteran of the Postal Service,
retired from the San Juan Bautista Post Office Nov. 30.
After many storms, heat waves and a couple of dog bites later,
Bessom decided to seek shelter indoors as a clerk. On Nov. 30
Bessom said,
”
Can I help the next customer, please?
”
for the last time at the San Juan Bautista Post Office.
San Juan post office clerk retires
Kathy Bessom, a nearly 40-year veteran of the Postal Service, retired from the San Juan Bautista Post Office Nov. 30.
After many storms, heat waves and a couple of dog bites later, Bessom decided to seek shelter indoors as a clerk. On Nov. 30 Bessom said, “Can I help the next customer, please?” for the last time at the San Juan Bautista Post Office.
Bessom has worked at the San Juan Bautista Post Office since 1993, when she transferred from San Jose. She was working as a distribution clerk in San Jose when a position as a window clerk opened up in San Juan Bautista. However, in order for her to take the job, she had to overcome one hurdle. Because of her shyness, she found it difficult to talk to people. She pondered her decision for weeks, even driving to the Post Office every day and sitting on the cement wall at the Mission across the street from the Post Office, contemplating yet another position in her postal career.
Her customers and co-workers are glad she made the decision to take the job. She admits that learning to become a window clerk was difficult, but what she remembers and treasures the most are all the nice customers she has helped over the years, and they have given her a lot of fond memories to take into retirement.
“It was scary starting my first ‘real’ job,” Bessom said in a press release.
She has seen many changes in the Postal Service, and has worked through a lot of changes herself, but recalls, “I’m really glad my friend talked me into taking that first postal test 39 years ago.”
Fresh out of high school in 1970, Kathy Bessom was looking for a steady job other than her occasional babysitting jobs. When the wife of one of the couples she babysat for told her she had just landed a clerk job at the Post Office, she encouraged Bessom to give it a try. However, Bessom was amazed at the duties of a clerk position, so instead she opted to become a letter carrier in San Jose. She thought to herself, “How tough can that be? You get to be outdoors, walk up and down streets, wave to people, and place letters in mailboxes.”
Manuel Herrera graduates from Basic
Army Reserve Pfc. Manuel J. Herrera has graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Knox, Ky.
During the nine-week training period, the trainee received instruction in drill and ceremony, weapons, rifle marksmanship and bayonet training, chemical warfare, field training and tactical exercises, armed and unarmed combat, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, traditions, and core values.
He is the son of Manuel F. and Yolanda O. Herrera of Alta Vista Drive, in Hollister.
The private graduated in 2006 from New Harvest Christian School, in Norwalk, and received an associate degree in 2008 from Gavilan College in Gilroy.
