Does everyone give their mail carrier a holiday gift?

[Clinton Crusader]

Just curious. Our mailbox is half a mile away and I have never laid eyes on the mail carrier. We have a mailbox on the lower porch, but he doesn't leave it there, he leaves it in a row of boxes half a mile away. I've asked repeatedly that the mail be brought to the house, but it never comes.

Opinions wanted!

[demnan]

1. Not this year

My service has been really lousy since we lost the last guy (who I tipped $10 and left cookies for). It's not necessary to tip your mailman, but it's a nice thing to do. They work pretty hard this time of year. I say tip them if they are good.

This year I've missed receiving things and had to call people whose mail I received by accident. People who didn't even live on my street. What was the person thinking?

[DemReadingDU]

2. Oh, I usually leave mailman about dozen homemade

special cookies or candy, inside the mailbox for him! This must be a common thing to do, because I once saw the front seat of his vehicle a few days before Christmas, and there were more goodies in there than letters! lol

[tularetom]

3. This year I would

He's hauled several packages up our driveway to the porch instead of leaving them down by the mailbox 500 feet away where anybody can grab 'em. One of the packages was a welder that weighed 100 lbs plus.

[Fridays Child]

4. My parents always did, when I was a kid. But they knew him by name.

Now, I have a tiny space in a hive mailbox, down the street, and I don't even know who my carrier is. The other thing, too, is that the service is very slipshod. At least a few times every month, I get mail addressed to other people. Usually, it's addressed to the same house number on a different street. Until I moved here, I almost never got mis-sorted mail.

So, to answer your question, no.

[Nikki Stone1]

5. Yes, and I talk with my mail carrier all the time

He currently has a bad case of tendinitis, so his gift this year may be Salon-Pas patches. :)

[karlrschneider]

6. We do because our regular guy (rural contract carrier) is very

conscientious. A few times he has even come back late in the afternoon after finding a piece of mail
or a package he overlooked in the morning. He's a good fellow. :D

[Betsy Ross]

7. Yes.

We know our carrier by name, chat frequently. $20 in an envelope.

[Parche]

8. maleman

I always give him a book of stamps...........................

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. As an ex-mail carrier - Rest assured that gifts are few and far between.

Though gratefully received by the carriers.

[Beaverhausen]

19. What gifts are preferred? cookies or cash?

and what if I end up giving it to the carrier who only comes one day a week as opposed to the regular carrier?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Booze is a favorite.

The carrier who comes once a week is the relief carrier for the regular carrier. Most regular gives the relief (called a T-6) a cut of the booty.

They aren't supposed to take cash but they aren't likely to turn it down. Cookies are a safe bet.

[ellenfl]

10. i understand that it is against the post office rules to give the

carriers cash . . . but i do anyway. we have a small mailbox and get LOTS of magazines and packages so i insist that 'honey' (and i) give our mailman a healthy tip. for the last few years we have given him $20 each. our mailman went above and beyond and was known by most of the neighborhood. this year we have a new mailperson that we haven't yet 'trained' but he/she will still get a good tip. if nothing else, it helps get us remembered. :thumbsup:

ellen fl

[recoveringrepublican]

31. I'm not sure but I think you can give them up to $20. nt

[recoveringrepublican]

34. nevermind I was wrong, you are right

Husband just said that technically carriers are not to accept any gifts with obvious value, whatever that means, but he said in his experience it is not enforced.

[azmouse]

11. I never have and I never will. n/t

[watercolors]

12. IMy carrier is such a nice man

if it raining he will drive up to the house, we chat alot, He even gave us a card when we lost our dog. I always bake some goodies and he looks forward to them. I do it thru out the year not just Xmas. However if I never met my carrier, no, I see no reason to.

[BlueGirlRedState]

13. My dad was a mail carrier

He always appreciated the gifts of cookies or a few dollars at Christmas. He was the type who was always gabbing with the postal patron. Incidentally, in the "pay forward" spirit of things, he always leaves a couple of cold drinks for the trash collectors in the hot Texas summer and tips them too. He's an awfully nice guy for a Republican!

[Gormy Cuss]

14. I don't tip the carrier in the winter.

We have very uneven delivery with all of the problems that other posters listed but I think it's some nitwit efficiency manager's change in procedures that has caused most of it. Once it was an isolated thing to get mail for the wrong house. Now it seems to be common.

I do give my letter carrier garden produce in the summer. The regular guy loves it and the woman who subbed for him one week said that our neighborhood had friendly people.

[Xenotime]

15. Hell no.

For as much as they have raised the postage rates, they can get their own stuff.

[REP]

16. Carriers Don't Control Stamps Prices!

If anyone's profiting from stamp increases, I doubt it's anyone who works in your (or my) local post office!

If we had a regular carrier, I probably leave him/her something, but we have a different carrier every week it seems. I should probably at least leave a card or something...

[soothsayer]

17. lol! Stamps (a tax) are probably the cheapest, best govt service

you'll ever receive! Did you ever contemplate what it takes to deliver your letter to aunt sally? It's a miracle!

[uppityperson]

22. postage is cheap. How much does it take to make a phone call?

mailing things is very cheap, comparing to what it would actually cost to deliver a letter in person.

[wicket]

27. Agreed, it's still a bargain

n/t

[MrCoffee]

18. I did, when I knew the mail carrier...

we lived in our old place for 3 years, and talked to the carrier some, she was really nice, so we'd leave her a little something.

We just moved into the new place, and the mail carrier here sucks, so he probably won't get anything.

[Blue Diadem]

20. We don't have a mail carrier, no home delivery in this town

If we had home delivery, I certainly would give a gift as long as he/she was doing a good job.

[Sequoia]

21. You give to them and others on "Boxing Day", the day after Christmas.

Trash man, milk man, policman, fireman...all those people in your neighborhood.

[AllegroRondo]

23. I just leave a bottle of Jack Daniels with a bow in the mailbox

or some other nice liquor.

[grizmaster]

25. they switch our carrier constantly nowadays

wouldn't be much point to leaving something when it might be the only time the carrier ever comes to my house.

[pitohui]

26. no this isn't done in these parts

i thought this a new york custom, it isn't done around here

[mtnester]

28. Federal mail carriers cannot legally accept cash tips

cookies, food, things like that yes.

Tips..no.

Brother and sister in law BOTH mail carriers...and they know better. They get lots of treats though.

[recoveringrepublican]

29. My hubby was a mail carrier, now management

he appreciated the tips, but didn't expect them. I love our mail carrier. We've been without a mail box for 3 weeks, technically he could start returning our mail after 10 days (and I was afraid he would do this as my husband is management), but every three days he bundled our mail and knocked on our door to give it to me. We tip him $20.

When I had my second baby the same thing. He must of noticed I was forgetting to get the mail and for 2 weeks he brought it up to the door.

My garbage men are godsends. I usually remember to put out the trash, but when I forget they will go to the side of the house and pick it up. It's hard to tip them, as they come at all different times, but on my days off I'll wait for them to tip them also.

[Xithras]

30. Nope.

I rarely see my mail carrier, and when I do it's never the same one twice.

[nosmokes]

32. of course. the trash guys and meter reader as well n/t

[Left Is Write]

33. No.

We don't have a regular carrier - there are several who do this route.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

35. I have been doing it for years

I give $20 to the mail carrier, $20 to the garbage men, and $20 to the guy who cuts my lawn. I'm not required to do it but I think it's the civilized thing to do at year's end and, from having lived in Europe for several years, I know it's widely practiced there too.

[ecstatic]

36. no, because different guys come and

I don't know who is who as I've never actually been by my mailbox to receive the mail in hand.

[earth mom]

37. We plan on giving both the mailman and his sub gift certificates this year.

I'm pretty sure they can accept a small amount of cash/gift certificates say $20-$25 or a gift like baked goods or whatever. I really think it is a good gesture considering how all across this huge country ALL OF US are getting mail service SIX days a week, heat, rain, sleet or snow....an awesome deal for the price of a few stamps I'd say! That's why I find it really annoying that some on this thread have dissed their mailmen by expecting them to deliver mail to a box on the porch when their route more than likely stipulates delivery to the mailbox on the street. Kind of a stingy and mean reaction to withhold such a small gift of thanks of service for an entire YEAR. :eyes:

[LostinVA]

38. Yup, every year

Usually something like a $10 Starbucks GC.

[tom_paine]

39. Yep. Mail and trash men (and women) get a $20 each

[sniffa]

40. our maiL guy can fuck off

worst maiL man ever!!

we caLLed to compLain about him mutiLating our Letters/packages and the next day he did it even worse. x(

they shouLd court martiaL the post master generaL.

[Nicole]

41. Always

Usually a gift card.

[ganeshji]

42. Our mailman was convicted earlier this year.

Stealing mail was the least of his crimes though. His replacement threatened to pepper spray my leashed dog. No, a gift or tip is not really in order. Our garbage guys get homemade cheesecake. They helped me carry trash out when I had an injury for a few weeks last winter. It was a much appreciated gesture.

[Rabrrrrrr]

43. No, not everyone does.

And I know that for a fact.

[texas1928]

44. Yeah...

I take the hand out that grabs their hand...


You should see the look on their face when it does.


For some reason we have new mailpersons every other week. :shrug:

[reyd reid reed]

45. When I can,

I'll leave him something. I've left him money ($5-10) and I've left him cookies and packets of cocoa with a cup...little things like that.