Marlène Thévenin rings the doorbell of a house in an obsolete housing estate in Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt (Loir-et-Cher), where cedar is still king. “And there, I press “start the VSMP service””, she says, tapping her Facteo, a smartphone that serves as her digital assistant. But no one opens. Second attempt. Nothing neither. The Facteo had however given its “instructions”: “ Introduce yourself to the beneficiary and discuss a subject likely to interest him ». With a choice of: “ What time ! », “Did you watch TV last night? », “Have you had a few visitors? » We’ll hold back later.
The VSMP – for “Watch over my parents” – is one of the many paid services that make up the daily life of Marlène Thévenin, 26, a so-called “expert services” mail carrier, hired in May 2022. This former home helper who dreamed of ambulance worker entered La Poste through the interim, as reinforcement during the 2020 Christmas holidays. Her HQ is the postal sorting center in Blois, a huge barnum where each postman prepares his rounds in silence, before rushing into the surrounding countryside.
Marlène is a “roller” postwoman, who assists her “regular” colleagues: she takes her yellow Kangoo for walks between Vineuil, Huisseau-sur-Cosson, Saint-Claude-de-Diray, Montlivault, Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt and a portion of Mont-près-Chambord. “ We are a small team for about ten tours in total and we communicate a lot between us and with our manager. »she assures, her eyes riveted on her Facteo.
“We sell benefits, but we also know how to be accommodating”
Early that morning, Marlène placed an orange locker on the passenger seat: her traditional round of mail is made up of Yves Rocher letters galore, magazines in blister packs, a few administrative letters, a handful of registered letters and a stamped card with a Chinese New Year motif. Above all, she weighted her trunk with around twenty packages, including several boxes from the Amazon platform in Orléans. The young woman dropped off most of them at a “pick-up point”, here a supermarket drive. The Leclerc employee flashed the parcels morosely, the postwoman scanned the Leclerc employee’s QR code and everyone went their separate ways.
Hand delivery is a service invoiced around 2 euros
Hurry up. The classic tour resumes. In the deserted alleys, mail is often delivered from the lowered driver’s window, rolling level with the boxes. Hand delivery is a service invoiced around 2 euros. “ Mail or parcels can also be collected directly from mailboxes. A paid service, accessible from the La Poste website. An old lady in pajamas limps up to her, a letter in her hand. Marlene seizes it. “We sell benefits, but we also know how to be accommodating. »
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