BonnerSprings.com

Twenty-eight years ago, David Alcala got a job with the U.S. Postal Service in Bonner Springs expecting to transfer back to his hometown of Topeka as soon as he was eligible after 90 days of work.

But 90 days proved to be just enough time for him to fall in love with Bonner Springs and make him want to stay.

“Because of the community,” he remembers now. “The people were fantastic.”

Alcala liked his job so much he commuted from Topeka every workday for nine years, putting 247,000 miles on his 1983 Toyota Corolla, before finally moving to Bonner Springs in 1992.

Alcala is retired now; his final day was the day before Halloween, Oct. 30. During the years he worked the counter mostly, selling stamps, assisting people with packages and doing general customer service work. He says even after almost 30 years of working for the same company, he wasn’t ready to retire. When he became eligible for an early retirement incentive in September, however, he decided to take it.

“The people, servicing the people,” Alcala said of what he is going to miss. “I’m going to miss my customers.”

As a teenager, Alcala didn’t see himself working behind the counter at the Postal Service. His dream was to join the Navy, which he did at the age of 17. He spent two years in active duty, and six in reserve, before becoming an operator of printing machines and then becoming a construction worker – a job he had just prior to taking the job with the postal service.

One of the things Alcala said he was most proud of was his accumulation of 2,675 sick-leave hours during his time with the postal service, which he will roll over into his retirement, giving him close to 30 years. This gives him a feeling of pride that he worked as hard as his father, who also retired with more than 2,000 hours of sick leave. It also, he said, makes him appreciate the good health he as experienced throughout his life.

“Just that I was fortunate not to be sick and be able to go to work and not call in (sick),” Alcala said.

In the few days Alcala has been retired, he says he has mostly been doing yard work to fill the time. He has a running joke now with his wife, Ann.

“The wife’s always asking me ‘What are you going to do today?’ And I say, ‘nothing.’ And she says, ‘You did that yesterday.’ And I say, ‘I didn’t finish,’” Alcala said.

He says retirement isn’t as bad as he originally thought it might be. He and his wife are planning on doing some extensive traveling in the near future, and this gives him something to look forward to.

“It’s a good change,” Alcala said. “Even though I wasn’t ready, it seems like it’s going to be a good change.”

On his final day of work, his fellow postal workers threw a small party for Alcala, during which he was presented with a service award in recognition of the years he gave to the postal service. It was an appropriate ending to a career that has left Alcala with a distinct sense of accomplishment.

“I had a good career,” Alcala said. “I’m happy. I had a good career.”

Comments

1. 

   Chuck (anonymous) says…

   David, congrats on your recent retirement. I've enjoyed and appreciated your service since my move to Bonner eight years ago. Having been a mail carrier for ten years back in the 1980s I fully appreciate the effort you've demonstrated by commuting a substantial distance to work for nine years, accumulating substantial sick leave and successfully working directly with the public on a daily basis. Although on the surface it sounds lackadaisical, I think you can appreciate it when I say, it's great to have absolutely nothing to do and all day to do it. Good Luck David!

   November 21, 2009 at 6:56 p.m.

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