Milton Gray hung up his mailbag Friday, May 26, 2023, after delivering mail in Sapulpa for a quarter of a century, though his official retirement date is May 31.
When asked what made him decide to go to work for the United States Postal Service, Milton said he was working for a fiberglass fabrication facility in Sand Spring and decided to make a career change, so he took the Postal Service test, but he assumed he was rejected.
“I think a year later they said; ‘we are going to save your scores and move them into this register.’
“I didn’t pay any mind because I figured if you go and take the test, and you haven’t been interviewed in a month, or you haven’t heard from them in a month or so, they got someone else to fill the position.”
“Much to Milton’s surprise, he received a letter three years after taking the test.
Three years later, I got a letter saying was I interested for a Part-Time Flex job. I’m like, I don’t want to be part-time, I’ve worked for this company for sixteen years, I need a full-time job.” Gray then talked it over with his supervisor, who urged him to go ahead with the interview.
“I was going just to get an insight of how the interview would go. I wasn’t going to accept any part-time job.”
Milton soon found out in the interview what PTF was.” It just means you are a full-time person, you just don’t have your own route, you are floating around.”
Milton wound up being hired by The Postmaster in Sapulpa by the flip of a coin.
“I had an interview with the Postmaster here and the Postmaster in Broken Arrow and after the interview, they flipped a coin. They liked my presentation, both of them wanted me, they flipped a coin and Sapulpa won.” Thus, Gray went to work for the Sapulpa Post Office in February 1998.
Soon after going to work here in Sapulpa, he discovered he was the first black postal carrier in the City of Sapulpa. Sadly, as such, Milton ran into an obstacle one would not expect near the end of the Twentieth-Century here in America: Being denigrated merely for the color of his skin.
He recalled two encounters that he never told anyone about until recently, including his mother, who has since passed.
“I just recently told a couple of my coworkers, I never told management, I never told anyone, I never even told my mother who passed away four years ago.
On my second week here, I was out an about delivering, and I came across the lawns of customers, they called me a n****r and shut the door.I’m like wow, really, I haven’t heard that since I was eleven-years-old.
They then gave me work to do in Downtown Sapulpa, someone drove by and rolled down their window and yelled n****r, I was so upset, and I was afraid. Anger built up, as well as fear. I was scared, I didn’t know because it happened last week, and now it’s happening this week, right in the middle of town.”
It made Milton think that these occurrences might be potent for things to come.
“It made me just not decide if this was the job for me.”
Gray went on to explain in his soft voice why he stayed on the job: “As I carried on to find my route in downtown, all I could think was, I’ve got to protect myself, I don’t want to hurt anybody and I don’t want to be hurt. It just started poisoning my mind, it made me angry and scared.”
Later, he was delivering mail to the Bartlett Apartments when he encountered a lady whose husband worked at the post office with Gray. This woman would always hug Milton when she visited her husband at work.
“I saw her and I put my shade on because I didn’t want her to see the anger in my eyes, because I knew her husband worked with us. She said: ‘Mr. Gray, how ya doin?’ I said: I am doing alright. Uh uh, she said, ‘No, you have got to give me a hug.’ She hugged everyone, and she gave me a hug, it was probably for three or four seconds, but it seemed like it was for eternity. I cried on her shoulder, but she never knew my problems.
That whole burden just lifted, the hate, the anger, and all of that just went away, it changed everything.”
Milton gave more instances where he felt encouraged to stay on the job.
“A few weeks later Darlene Rice, who was an older black lady who used to live here, talked to me.
She said; ‘I’m glad we’ve got some representation,’ that gave me confidence. At that point, I said I’m not going anywhere and as I went up the hill to deliver mail to the black community up there, they were standing outside on their porches applauding and cheering me on.
Milton had made up his mind to stay, regardless of how people spoke to him.
“I’m not going anywhere, I don’t care what people say. I greeted everyone, even if they were in a bad mood, with ‘Good morning how ya doin? Have a nice day.’”
Speaking of his customers, he said: “They are the most awesome people, they look after me, they take care of me, these are all white people.”
He concluded by reading a letter he wrote that sums up his career:
“I thank God for allowing me to have a blessed and wonderful career here in Sapulpa. Special thanks to the many customers who have trusted me to deliver their mail and their parcels. I have formed a strong bond with so many of them and really appreciate them for taking care of me throughout my career here. Whether it’s water or snacks during a hot day, or gifts during the holidays, or even just a warm smile and saying hello. Earlier in my career, I had an opportunity to go into management, but I knew my better fit was to serve my customers on my route.
As a letter carrier, we are the ears and eyes of the community. We can tell when things aren’t right, or whole mail is piling up, and at times we do wellness checks to see if everything is okay. There have been two times I was at the right place at the right time. To help out my customers, I have developed a lifetime friendship. After retirement, I will continue to stay in contact with them. I also want to thank my coworker. I want to thank you, Sapulpa, it has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you.
Gray says once he is retired he is going to visit family he has not seen “Up North,” do chores around the house, and eventually work with food banks.
After hearing Milton’s story about his career, I am reminded of a quote by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
