Going postal

Going postal  (Shooting,  Mass shooting)
Post workers starting to shoot superiors and co-workers in the 80's and 90's.

Going postal is an slang phrase referring to becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace environment. The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, police officers and members of the general public in acts of mass murder. Between 1970 and 1997, more than 40 people were killed by then-current or former employees in at least 20 incidents of workplace rage. Between 1986 and 2011, workplace shootings happened roughly twice per year, with an average of 1.18 people killed per year.

Origin

The earliest known written use of the phrase was on December 17, 1993, in the American newspaper the St. Petersburg Times:

The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, which has seen so many outbursts that in some circles excessive stress is known as "going postal." Thirty-five people have been killed in 11 post office shootings since 1983. The USPS does not approve of the term "going postal" and has made attempts to stop people from using the saying. Some postal workers, however, feel it has earned its place.

On December 31, 1993, the Los Angeles Times said, "Unlike the more deadly mass shootings around the nation, which have lent a new term to the language, referring to shooting up the office as 'going postal'."

As a result of two shootings on the same day on May 6, 1993, in 1993 the USPS created 85 Workplace Environment Analysts for domicile at its 85 postal districts. These new positions were created to help with violence prevention and workplace improvement. In February 2009, the USPS unilaterally eliminated these positions as part of its downsizing efforts.

Murder By Proxy: How America Went Postal

A trailer for the documentary: Murder By Proxy: How America Went Postal, notes:

[..] this feature-length documentary examines the growing phenomenon of spree killings in the United States. [..] The film explores the basic question of what brings a seemingly normal person to the point of committing mass murder. It examines the complex interplay of personal and societal factors leading up to incidents of workplace massacres, starting with the earliest post office massacre in 1986. What drives people to kill this way, what pushes them over the edge? Why all the bloodshed, and why now? And what is it about US Postal Service that made it a poster boy for workplace massacres? America has witnessed widespread changes over the last 50-years, along with a profound transformation of the relationship between the individual and society. Could this shift have resulted in unseen forces, both within the workplace and outside of it, that are propelling this epidemic of mass murder? The film shows how transformation of the US Postal Service from a government agency into a corporation a created stressful workplace environment filled with increasingly anxious and unhappy employees and, eventually, resulted in unprecedented bloodshed. But this transformation hasn't occurred in a vacuum. It also represents the world outside the post office corporate America itself. Whether inside a cubicle, behind a counter or on the factory floor the modern-day workplace has become a nerve-racking place.

In popular culture

Comedy shows used shootings in a workplace setting as a punchline following a number of these incidents.

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