Postal workers, gas station attendants brave the cold

With temperatures like the ones Saskatchewan currently is experiencing, being outside can be difficult for anyone.

But what about people who are outside for most of the day for their job?

Darlene Douglas works for Canada Post. She delivers mail, no matter how cold it gets outside.

980 CJME spoke with her Monday morning, when the temperature was hovering around -38 C with a wind chill of around -48 C in Regina.

“It’s so freaking cold,” she said.

While her route is shortened in these extreme temperatures, it’s still a difficult task.

“We have hand warmers. It’s not too bad if you keep moving, but I find my toes get cold. I can’t do anything about that,” she explained.

Retreating to her vehicle between deliveries helps, but not much.

“The vans are relatively warm, but not that great,” she said with a laugh.

She is very excited for spring, but at this point, she would be glad for any kind of warmup.

“We can’t wait,” Douglas said. “When it’s -17, it will feel like we should wear shorts.”

Mail delivery is just one of many jobs that keep workers outside for a long time.

Daniel Logan works at the pump at the south Albert Street Co-op Gas Bar.

On Monday, he worked a seven-hour shift, with much of that spent outside.

“So I’m standing out of here most of my day, depending on how many cars show up. Whenever we’re slow, I stand inside, warm up and drink my hot chocolate and then come out whenever I need to,” he said.

Still, this cold is nothing new for him.

“We kind of were lucky this winter. This is like the only bad week, but it’s not too bad. You kind of get numb, but you get used to it,” he said.

His strategy to stay as warm as possible is a fairly simple one: Many layers of clothing.

“I have a shirt, a hoodie, a crewneck on top of the hoodie, then I have a flannel jacket on top of that, then I have my ski pants, and then my big jacket,” he said.