When asked what would be the best time to take a photo to accompany this story, Timoteo Romero Jr. answered, “Anytime, I’m always ready.”
With an impeccable uniform, which he confirmed he irons
daily, and a nametag that simply reads Tim, Romero Jr. seems to truly enjoy his
position as a senior clerk at the Glenwood Springs Post Office.
“In my 24 years at the Post Office, I don’t think I ever showed up with a bad attitude,” he says with pride.
Romero Jr. first started as a part-time flexible clerk at
the Aspen Post Office in 1995. He transferred to the Glenwood Springs branch in
1998, where he hopes to retire in just a couple of years.
But life hasn’t always been this straightforward for him.
Born in Mexico and raised in the United States, Romero Jr.
moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in the late 1980s, where he decided to enlist
in the military after visiting a recruiting office at the West Glenwood Springs
mall.
“I was young, I wanted to travel and be in a uniform,” he
remembers. “I always thought that being in a uniform made you cool.”
In 1991, Romero Jr. was deployed to Kuwait during the Gulf War for 52 days.
“It was pretty tough,” he said.
“During those 52 days, I don’t remember going to the
bathroom, sleeping or eating. I just remember some ugly notions about the war,
and I usually don’t like to talk about it,” he confessed.
“It brings bad memories. I break down.”
Later on, Romero Jr. admitted suffering from PTSD but didn’t want to talk about it.
“I have all my ugly memories locked in a little room in my
head,” he said. “Unless I have to talk to a specialist, I don’t like to talk
about it.”
Life after combat
After traveling the world with the Navy for eight years, and
independently following his service, Romero Jr.’s transition to
civilian life went somewhat smoothly — this time under a different uniform
— the USPS.
“When they put me to work with customer service I was
horrified to be in public,” he remembers. “I didn’t know how I was going to
behave. I didn’t think I could handle it.”
Now, with more than 20 years as a Post Office employee,
Romero Jr. is nothing but proud of his career choice.
“I went from one uniform to another,” he said. “ I wear all
my uniforms with pride, military or Post Office.”
Often recognized for his outgoing personality and contagious
sense of humor at the window where he greets customers, Romero Jr. continues to
find ways to make the job interesting every day.
For example, by learning people’s names.
“I know most of our customers and their faces, but I didn’t
know their names,” he explained. “Now I ask, ‘May I know your name, please?’”
The Chihuahua native is also passionate about helping the
local Hispanic community, speaking Spanish with post office customers who are
not fluent in English, and as a volunteer translator at the Glenwood Springs
courthouse.
“I don’t get paid to translate, but I do it because people
need it.”
What’s next for Tim
Romero Jr. plans to retire within the next couple of years
and has plenty of sweet plans for the future.
“Everybody that knows me knows that I make these amazing
chocoflans,” he said about his special Mexican recipe.
Romero Jr., who follows a gluten-free diet, is also proud of
his Mexican cookies and other gourmet flan cakes he sometimes bakes for sale.
“I love to cook, most of my meals are prepared at home. I even cook for my
dogs.”
His two dogs, both boxers — one of which is paralyzed from
the waist down — also get to enjoy his active lifestyle and love for traveling.
“I take the dogs on vacation and to ski,” said Romero Jr. who likes to ski Powderhorn and has an A-Basin military season pass.
Next on his travel list is Machu Picchu in Peru. “I want to do the six-day Inca trail,” he said before mentioning he also wants to revisit Brazil and Egypt.
Romero Jr. says in addition to English and Spanish, he can
also speak a little Italian and Portuguese, and knows about 50 to 80 words in Tarahumara,
a Mexican indigenous language.
“I usually never stay home,” he said. “Unless I need to cook.”
nolen@postindependent.com