LOCAL HERO: Duckworth works to deliver mail during pandemic

SIKESTON — Everyone needs their mail delivered. Even during uncertain times, necessities don’t end.

For Sikeston postal worker Joey Duckworth, he increased his workload during the pandemic, more than he has ever worked before.

“During that time, I worked more hours than I ever have in my 18 1/2 year career,” Duckworth said. “When it started, and businesses were shutting down, we started getting packages from Amazon and places like that. It was probably three-to-five times more than what we usually get.

“I worked a lot of late hours and volunteered for overtime. I just engulfed myself at work.”

It doesn’t seem like much.

You go into a business, deliver packages, and then walk right out, but it’s more than that.

Over time, Duckworth said that he had to get used to the new process set for him and his colleagues, especially on routes with older individuals.

“It took a while before it made a difference,” Duckworth said. “We didn’t know whether to take it seriously or not take it seriously; then, when they started implementing some of the rules, we had to wear our masks and sanitize and keep our distance. They put notes on our trucks to keep customers away. I have older people on my route, and I stay in touch with them, but keeping a distance from them is crucial.

“I didn’t want to infect them. There was just a lot of unknown about the spread and if it could get spread through letters and packages.”

At one time, he even got overwhelmed with how many packages were coming in at one time.

“First, it didn’t seem real,” Duckworth said. “It seemed like it was in a certain area of the country, then it started getting closer, and now we’re in the situation that we’re in now. It seemed like it was foreign. We’ve never been through anything like this before.”

Wearing a mask can seem irrelevant to most, but for Duckworth, there was a requirement for all post office employees.

The one thing he did struggle with was trying to find the correct one.

“Which one is comfortable when it’s 100 degrees outside,” Duckworth said. “That’s not a challenge right now. It was a new normal with packages needing to get signed for and letters needing to get signed for, and they didn’t want to stock it on doors or ring doorbells. We had to be creative with how we deliver those.”

Despite following all the protocols, Duckworth said that he still managed to test positive for the coronavirus.

He returned on Monday, Nov. 16, but is still wondering how his test came back positive.

“I don’t know if it was through somebody I delivered mail to; I haven’t gone anywhere,” Duckworth said. “So, doing things differently, I’m keeping my hands clean, wearing my mask, and doing everything the CDC guidelines have for us. We have reminders and stuff that come up on our scanner. I’m making sure I do it so that I can be as healthy as possible.

“We get different news about how a doctor said I could test positive for another six months. Some people are saying that you can get it again. I’m taking it more seriously now because I see how easy it is to get it and how easy it could be to infect someone else. I’ve lost two family members recently to it.”

Through a worsening pandemic, Duckworth still enjoys what he does, and during an encounter he had with a customer, he found out that others did as well.

“He came out onto his steps and hollered at me, ‘Thank you. We’re going to get through this, and it’s going to be because of people like you,’” Duckworth said. “That made me feel like this was important because people can’t get out and get their necessities. That made me feel really good about what I’ve been doing.”