Ever wondered why you’ll always see posties striding around in shorts, no matter the weather or time of year? According to them, there’s a perfectly good reason.
In a Reddit thread a couple of years back, one user asked if the choice of attire was a rule they had to abide by, or just a 'silly' ritual that’s been passed down over the years.
“Postmen/women of the UK, why do you wear shorts all year round no matter the weather?” they wrote.
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“Is it a rule or a silly tradition?”
Saying they’d made the same observation, another said: “Yeah I've seen them last week in shorts and a Royal Mail pastel blue short sleeve shirt. Hardcore. None of this DPD Hermes skinny joggers and overcoat nonsense.”
But it turns out they choose the shorts life for the same reasons many of us do so.
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One 'current postie' replied: “It really is just because it gets hot doing the job.
"One round I cover I wear trousers just because of the wind (made the mistake once and had windburn all up my legs) but it’s that particular village happens to be the highest point of the town and is a massive wind tunnel. All other rounds I'm in shorts pretty much all year.”
Someone else explained: “I'm an ex-postie. I used to be 'that guy', the reason for me is that I hate sweating and walking around all day used to make me sweat my balls off.
“If it was an extreme day I might throw on waterproofs over my shorts, something I can easily slip on and off as the need arose.”
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Putting it more succinctly, a third added: “Skin is waterproof. Walking all day is hot work."
Another, who previously worked as postie for a few months, shared: “The depot had a running bet where everyone paid £1 a week into a pot, with the winner got to give the entire fund to a charity of their choice.
“The competition was to see who could go furthest into the winter in shorts. As the snow kicked in during January it was down to two die hards. Eventually as Spring kicked in it was deemed a tie, the pot was split between the two, raising several hundred each.
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“At the end of the competition a supervisor also added to the pot out of his own pocket and both got a free cooked breakfast from the work’s canteen for a week in recognition of their efforts!”
Another Reddit thread from five years ago produced similar responses, with one person saying their best mate, who was a postal worker, wore shorts 'because they dry quickly'.
“He says there is nothing worse than wet trousers all day in the winter,” they said, adding: “You also don't get cold when on your feet.”
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Another also wrote: “I asked our delivery guy from UK Mail about his shorts today and he said ‘It'll take a lot more than the beast from the east to put me in trousers'.”
Ah, the Beast from the East! Talk about a blast from the past.
Jess Hardiman