Good morning lovely readers! You’re favorite blogging Mailgirl had a busy day on Thursday and had to work some overtime. This left me a little too bleary-eyed (“Knackered” for our UK friends) to write on Friday morning, so here comes a little Mailgirl Six on the weekend.
First I want to say thank you for all the positive feedback. This has been a much better experience than Reddit. I supposed the registration on this site is stringent enough to keep the creeps away. Keep your comments and questions coming. I love the positivity 🙂
Second I want to say a big thank you to donnylaja for their insight on Mailgirls wearing shoes at Chinese companies. I’ve never worked there so it’s cool to learn about uniform standards in other cultures. I’ve worked as a Mailgirl in three major metro areas; Chicago, San Francisco, and Atlanta, and even in just three different parts of America standards varied. But it shows how universal the concept and relevant Mailgirl’s are becoming to the business world. The service we provide is useful no matter where we are. You can read more about the subject here: https://nficstoryboard.com/storytitle/five-mailgirls/
Thanks donnylaja!
So on to the question for today. Arthwys writes:
“Dear Mailgirl Six, I really enjoy reading your blog! There is one question I am very interested in. Even when you say you are a sex-positive feminist, you grew up in a more or less “puritan” society. So how was your first time? I mean your first time as a Mailgirl… Did you feel very embarrassed being naked then or were you already cool about it? I would love to work for a company which employs Mailgirls like you! Keep posting!”
My first time?
LOL.
Nervous as Hell.
The decision to become a Mailgirl was tough enough. As I’ve previous explained I really needed to complete this for my schoolwork and I knew I wasn’t getting paid, but still it was more of a “want to” than a “have to”. But I was very nervous about working naked. I wasn’t much of an exhibitionist by nature. Besides a few boyfriends, doctors and my college roommate, no one had seen me naked and most of those times the lights were off.
I had at least a weekend to prepare mentally. I started by exercising nude in my little apartment, getting used to the feeling of moving around without clothes on while doing menial tasks. Second I read everything I could about the Mailgirl experience, which at the time was mostly the official literature from DDE and Confessions of a Mailgirl by Number 9. I had seen the Diana Clarkson movie “The Mailgirl” but was kind of sure the job was not that romantic. I just wanted college credits. My situation was one of the reasons I started this blog. Hopefully future Mailgirls can find it of use.
Shaving was a tough thing too. I was pretty adamant I did not want to do that at work in front of strangers so I shaved at home. I’d never actually been clean-shaven like that since puberty and I should have done it before the morning of my first day. I could feel every little shift of my underwear, the fabric on my bare flesh, the lightest of breezes. I shivered in the middle of summer.
Then I got there. The business complex was huge! Three buildings, a warehouse, a multi-story office building, a recording and broadcast studio; this was one of those hoe shopping companies that bought TV time and ran programming to sell plated-gold jewelry and out of date fashions to retirees and housewives. The HR lady told me almost two thousand people worked there, and I would be the only Mailgirl.
The enormity of what I agreed to hit me as I sat in her office. I was the pilot program, the 60 day free trial. I would be the only Mailgirl in the whole complex. Two thousand people.
Still, I found the strength to sign my paperwork. I needed the credits.
She took me up to the women’s locker room off the executive gym, the only place in the complex with a shower. It was time. My clothes came off.
My new boss watched me shower to make sure I was clean. I toweled off and trembled as I stood for inspection. She took her time to examine every little part of me. I was so embarrassed. My whole body turned bright red.
I remember my palms being sweaty as she handed me a Sharpie and told me it was time to put my numbers on. My hands were trembling so badly she had to help, which was fine as I could not reach the small of my back. In that moment it was easier to let someone else do it, to let this be done to me rather than do it to myself, if that makes any sense.
My mind kept coming back to it, two thousand people.
The HR fit the cuff for the MMU over my left bicep and declared me ready, but I was anything but. Skin flushed, body quivering, sweat building on palms and no skirt to discreetly dry them on. Oddly, horribly, my body was betraying me. My nipples were hard and I felt a little twinge down between my legs. It was the most nervous moment of my life. She must have seen my conflict and asked me if I wanted to quit, offered to shred the contract and come back as a regular intern in the fall, but I would have to quit now because once the MMU was activated there was no turning back.
“I’m okay,” I lied, “just first day jitters.”
She stared at me. I tried to smile.
I held my arm out for her. “Do you think you could turn me on?” I joked.
She chuckled, “I’m not convinced. I think you need to do this yourself.”
And so I did, with fingers fumbling of the touchscreen of the repurposed smartphone, suppressing the urge to hide the nakedness of my repurposed body, I turned on the MMU and entered my code.
“You’re a very brave young lady,” and she said my real name.
Five seconds later the MMU buzzed. It was in training mode so it would alert me of demerits but not penalize me further, not for the first week anyway.
“Please,” I told the HR lady as I took a deep breath, “please call me Mailgirl One, Number One, or Trainee when I’m on duty.”
She saw I was serious and aware of the code violation, so she opened the door and I stepped out into the gym. She lead me down the hallway, past the executive offices, through the call center, accounting, credit services, human resources, all the departments in the main building. She pointed out the managers offices, introduced me to a few, showed me the layout.
I felt cold from the inside out. I was sweating in weird places; my scalp, the soles of my feet, that part of your butt where it meets your upper leg (the underbutt?). I could feel myself sweat from the underbutt as the office workers stared.
I was on parade. So many eyes on my nude body, staring with unabashed interest. I had nowhere to hide and nothing to hide behind, not even my hands. I was out there for all to see; looking, judging, mocking, rejecting, desiring, looks of every kind. The workers were just as conflicted as I was. Ostensibly the tour was to show me around the main building but it was also to show the workers this was really happening. The sweaty, naked Mailgirl was here and you better get used to her sweaty nakedness.
In that moment I wanted to sink into the floor. I did not remember any names or any directions to the areas I was supposed to learn. My brain was stunned and my body numb. I only came out of my stupor when the HR lady showed me the copy room, the last stop of the tour, and pointed to stacks of Mailgirl Program and Service Guides.
“Now that you know your way around you should have no problem distributing these program guides to the employees and answering any questions they have.”
I could not believe my ears. “Talk to two thousand people…”
“No. There’s only about eight hundred working in this building today. You can do the rest in the warehouse and the studio tomorrow.”
It was a rough first day. It got me over my fear of being seen. All things considered it was probably the best way to approach the first day, confront your fears and get over them. I hope that answered your questions Arthwys.
So I hope everybody has a good weekend. Keep those questions and comments coming. And remember, health and efficiency matters!
Sounds like a rough first day. Thanks for sharing Six.
Busy life, being a Mailgirl. Hope you get paid for that overtime. I’m amazed at your strong character and your willingness to ‘deliver the dirt’. Thank you for sharing, Six.
Dear Six,
thank you very much for your detailed and very vivid answer!
Well doubtlessly, it was a very tough day for you. But that you made it through shows that as a Mailgirl it is not enough just to be beautiful (which is obviously necessary), but one has to be very strong mentally. Otherwise, I don’t think anyone can work in such a job. I mean being naked amongst fully clothed people makes a girl feel very vulnerable; so one needs to have a strong personality.
Additionally, I guess there must have been quite some pressure on you, being the only Mailgirl in the pilot program. If you had not done a good job, the program would have been cancelled. But I assume, that at least all the male employees supported you to make the pilot program a success…
Thanks again for your very insightful blog!