"Your Generosity Appreciated" from the mailman

[jollystomper]

Solicitations do not bother me, I have no guilt when I choose to ignore them.

After having over a dozen pieces of non-junk mail (including checks and important papers) misdirected during the last year and being on a first-name basis with the local post office about it, tipping the mail carriers on my route is not a priority.

 

[Teacher Terry]

It’s tacky to solicit a tip. Since retiring I have done consulting for the Feds and being a mail carrier is a physical job and they get hurt. It’s not that unusual for them to be unable to return to their jobs. When we had a newspaper carrier we tipped.

 

[pacergal]

Never considered gifting at Christmas before, but we have a new mail person this year and he is fantastic. He will bring mail to the door if it won't fit in the mailbox, instead of cramming and folding like the previous person did.
Our neighbor parked their boat in front of our mailbox all summer, despite the mailman leaving notes and personally telling them they could not block it. Every day, the mailman brought our mail to the front door and left it on the table. (unless he was off, then the substitute just never left our mail and we'd get it on the weekends when the boat was gone!)
He is friendly, waves and will stop and have conversations (masked and distanced) from the box.Nicest mail person we've ever had.

 

[Major Tom]

On the back, it says "Happy Holidays, from my family to yours your generosity is much appreciated!"

I agree, that the "your generosity is much appreciated!" statement sounds very much like a solicitation for tips. I concur with Target2019's sentiment that a simple holiday greeting, without the solicitation, would have been more appropriate.

 

[Amethyst]

I'd give her something myself, but I didn't ask if people thought the mail carrier deserves a tip.

I wanted to know if people think it's appropriate for the mail carrier to solicit a tip, via what looks like a holiday greeting card.

In hindsight, it would have been better to post a yes/no poll.

To add to the salary/benefit discussion, my rural carrier is a postal contractor, not a USPS employee. As a contractor she has no benefits and a salary, from what I can glean from giggling the interweb, might be in the low 40's. Knowing what time she shows up at the PO each morning to sort mail (7am) and the length of her route (~75 miles R/T), I think it is rare she works less than 10 hours each day - six (6) days a week. During the holiday rush she probably works close to 12, maybe more. She drives her own personal vehicle and sure I hope she gets some sort of reimbursement for mileage.

My point for the above: She darn sure deserves all the unsolicited gifts of gratitude she gets this time of year.

 

[REWahoo]

I wanted to know if people think it's appropriate for the mail carrier to solicit a tip, via what looks like a holiday greeting card.

Note the word "unsolicited" in my last sentence.

 

[aja8888]

Our mail carrier should be tipping me this year for me re-delivering at least a dozen packages she left on my steps that should have been delivered to other houses on the streets in our neighborhood.

The most flagrant one was a bag of prescriptions that should have been delivered to a lady that lives two miles away. Not once, but in my mailbox three different times.

And then there are the letters that are in my box that belong to others. ........

Yeah, the carrier is a contractor.

And we get new ones every few months. They must be related.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Anyone else remember mom and dad giving their carrier booze?

Growing up in the dense city, our carrier was known to all. He'd let the kids tag along, and even let us put letters in the door slots. (Probably illegal back then too, sue him.)

At Christmas Eve, my mom and aunt (lived in same building) would have an envelope with money, cookies and booze ready. He'd come inside and enjoy the drink. After he left, mom would usually comment that he was already two sheets to the wind since we were near the end of his route.

Good memories.

And no jokes about the mailman. I know who my dad is!

Ah for the good old days. I was a substitute rural mail carrier in college. Learned how to drive from the passenger's seat. It made me enough money to put me through community college in the early '70s.

Every Christmas season a couple of the local dairy farmers would stick a pound of butter in the mailbox as a tip. One year I got a half pound of home-cured bacon. mm-mm goo-od.

This year our rural carrier retired, and I stuck a card with $20 in the box. IME, mail carriers do OK without my contribution. If I were to tip someone, it would be the FedEx folks who work under contract. But our USPS carrier was a sweetheart and deserved a gift.

To actually solicit tips is bad form, IMO.

 

[Midpack]

I've had the same mail carrier for over five years, the guy always does a good job and I gift him every Christmas.

We give something to our mail carrier and our trashman every year. They always acknowledge and seem to appreciate it. Good enough for us.

 

[braumeister]

Our mail carrier should be tipping me this year

Much the same here. I have to redeliver mail (left erroneously in my mailbox) to neighbors at least once a month, and they do the same. It's a standing joke here. We all use a cluster box at the end of the block, so it shouldn't be that hard.

And our carrier is a regular USPS employee, not a contractor.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

To add to the salary/benefit discussion, my rural carrier is a postal contractor, not a USPS employee. As a contractor she has no benefits and a salary, from what I can glean from giggling the interweb, might be in the low 40's. Knowing what time she shows up at the PO each morning to sort mail (7am) and the length of her route (~75 miles R/T), I think it is rare she works less than 10 hours each day - six (6) days a week. During the holiday rush she probably works close to 12, maybe more. She drives her own personal vehicle and sure I hope she gets some sort of reimbursement for mileage.

My point for the above: She darn sure deserves all the unsolicited gifts of gratitude she gets this time of year.

Is this a Star route? I think that was the old contractor system for the USPS. May be gone now, since I've been out of the business for 40+ years. I'm pretty sure I was a USPS employee when I covered my rural route in southern Wisconsin.

Of course, as a 20-YO kid I didn't give a whit about health insurance and other bennies, and I can't recall whether I got any,.

When I was employed in the early '70s, 75 miles was not a huge route, and I was done in the summer after about 6 1/2 hours (getting paid for 8). That came back to roost in the winter for sure, but I don't think I ever put in a 12-hour shift. Again, that was 40+ years ago.

 

[ivinsfan]

Ah for the good old days. I was a substitute rural mail carrier in college. Learned how to drive from the passenger's seat. It made me enough money to put me through community college in the early '70s.

Every Christmas season a couple of the local dairy farmers would stick a pound of butter in the mailbox as a tip. One year I got a half pound of home-cured bacon. mm-mm goo-od.

This year our rural carrier retired, and I stuck a card with $20 in the box. IME, mail carriers do OK without my contribution. If I were to tip someone, it would be the FedEx folks who work under contract. But our USPS carrier was a sweetheart and deserved a gift.

To actually solicit tips is bad form, IMO.

I think we have a rotating group of at least a dozen FedEx drivers..OTOH we've known out UPS driver for well over 20 years when he was a young pup and the relief driver for our mile hauler..

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I think we have a rotating group of at least a dozen FedEx drivers..OTOH we've known out UPS driver for well over 20 years when he was a young pup and the relief driver for our mile hauler..

From what I understand, the UPS pays its people well and offers a stock plan that can make them capable of ER. FexEx uses contractors who get squat. Who could use the tip?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I think we have a rotating group of at least a dozen FedEx drivers..OTOH we've known out UPS driver for well over 20 years when he was a young pup and the relief driver for our mile hauler..

One of our neighbors in an executive of a local communications business that has an office in town and also another one a couple of hours north. Since COVID, he has been w*rking from home and uses FedEX...A LOT. It's not uncommon to see them come by 3 or 4 times a day. I didn't even know that was possible...but I guess for the right amount of $$$?

My Dad had the same UPS driver for as long as I could remember (20 or more years, I would guess?) When Dad passed away, he balled as though he had lost his own father. To this day, he is the only professional driver that I knew his name.

 

[braumeister]

From what I understand, the UPS pays its people well and offers a stock plan that can make them capable of ER.

I have a friend who did an ER as a UPS driver, so that's probably true. But OTOH he also had both knees replaced from the constant up and down out of the truck.

 

[ivinsfan]

From what I understand, the UPS pays its people well and offers a stock plan that can make them capable of ER. FexEx uses contractors who get squat. Who could use the tip?

Excuse me..I didn't mention tipping or not tipping.. just said we never have the same FedEx driver.

 

[timbervest]

The bottom line is for any service provider to whom you want to show appreciation for what they do, give 'em a gift. I give some money at Christmas to my yard guys -- I pay them every month for their work, but it's a tough job and I appreciate their work that I don't have to do. Ditto pool guy. Postal carrier, trash guys I never see, have no relationship with, and can't evaluate whether or not they do a good job or not -- hence no tip. My newspaper guy does a lousy job so no gift.

Don't forget other people who work hard to make your life easier. They lady that has run the dry cleaners I have gone to for 20 years is really nice, always has a smile and a nice word, we chat, she does good work for a reasonable price and I give her a small box of candy at Christmas.

If you want to make someone happy and it makes you happy to do so (and you can afford it), give them something. If not, don't. No guilt.

 

[CoolRich59]

We give a card and a cash gift to our letter carrier and trash collector.

Last year the fellow who delivered our paper left a full page letter detailing how hard he works and practically demanding a gift. He got nothing. We have a new carrier this year who simply inserted a Christmas card with the paper. She got a card and cash.

We have a neighbor who ... was telling us that his drivers are always so tickled to get snacks/etc. when they deliver stuff.

What a great idea. We have UPS, FedEx and/or Amazon deliveries here a couple of times a week at this time of year.

After reading this, I put out a tray with some bottles of water, candy bars, granola bars, and potato chips with a sign thanking them for all their hard work.

 

[eytonxav]

Our regular mail carrier does a great job and therefore like to give him a Christmas card with a $20 bill. I do the same for the guys on the garbage truck and give each one of them $20.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

What a great idea. We have UPS, FedEx and/or Amazon deliveries here a couple of times a week at this time of year.

After reading this, I put out a tray with some bottles of water, candy bars, granola bars, and potato chips with a sign thanking them for all their hard work.

I think it's a pretty simple thing and I would guess most are pretty appreciative. I know the AMZN DPS drivers are under incredible pressure to get the deliveries done all while under the watchful eye of the "rabbit" keeping tabs on how they drive and how quickly they are working. It's gotta be a tough way to make a living.

I saw a picture on FB a few days ago with a former flyer buddy and his wife (who has stage V pancreatic cancer) standing in the snow as bell ringers for the Salvation Army. It was a sign that I should be doing "just a little more" for those humans that are around me and could be fighting battles that I don't know about.

 

[rk911]

I've had the same mail carrier for over five years, the guy always does a good job and I gift him every Christmas.

we do, too. heat, cold, snow, rain...i'd wanna get paid really well, too.

 

[rk911]

Our regular mail carrier does a great job and therefore like to give him a Christmas card with a $20 bill. I do the same for the guys on the garbage truck and give each one of them $20.

we also don't forget the garbage guys. this year everyone gets a $25 VISA gift card.

 

[Montecfo]

The tip if any is for personal service or service quality. It is not tied to people's compensation, or it should not be. That's called charity.

And let's face it, we can't be in the business of learning or guessing people's comp arrangements or benefit packages to figure out whether to tip them.

 

[ivinsfan]

The tip if any is for personal service or service quality. It is not tied to people's compensation, or it should not be. That's called charity.

And let's face it, we can't be in the business of learning or guessing people's comp arrangements or benefit packages to figure out whether to tip them.

Last time I checked no one was tipping their doctor or their banker. So yes it is somewhat based on comp and status.

 

[Sunset]

I think asking for a tip is bad taste.

My mail carrier is terrible, mail that is reported to me by the website never made it in the box. The replacements when she is on vacation do a much better job. I do as much online as possible to avoid losing important mail.

One little tip story:
Long ago on vacation in Cuba (legally).

We went to a "park", and while wandering in, some guy came up and asked if we would like to see the place, he showed us all over, had the bar open a cage so we could hold baby alligators, take photos, etc.. Never asked for a penny.
I gave him a big tip, at the time it was a few days worth of pay for him.

Later we took a tour to an old fort, there were uniformed gov't guards there. One of the guards stuck out her hand and asked for a tip. I didn't tip her, as her being there just didn't merit it.