We have left cookies in the mailbox for our mailman. We say mailman because he is indeed a man. His name is Bill. Finley has a keen understanding of the extra lengths he goes to to take care of us. Since moving to this a few years ago, she has noticed that Bill often drives down our long driveway to leave things on our stoop.
“Can I bake the mailman cookies?” she asked the other day.
“I don’t know if that is the best idea,” I said.
“Too big a mess,” she asked.
I laughed. “No, it’s more about the fact that people are super worried about germs and he may not want to eat food that we give him.” She nodded dramatically and made a sound of understanding.
“I think maybe a gift card would be better,” I said.
“Great! I just got three for my birthday. I’ll give him one!” She ran away and I googled “gifts for mail carriers.” I found a site that said carriers cannot accept gift valued over more than $20. After she breathlessly handed me a gift card, we went online and purchased a $20 gift card to be safe.
The letter says:
Dear Bill,
If you don’t already know the person that has been writing you thank you letters and baking you treats is me, Finley. I’m the baby of the family. I want to thank you for doing all of the things that you’ve been doing during this time. You go all around town giving people mail when you could be safe at home. And even though you clearly know we have a mailbox you go down the driveway just to put it on our doorstep.
Sincerely,
Finley Magee 🙂
P.S. If you’re not Bill. I’m sorry. Please give this to Bill and tell me your name and I will make you something too.
I was going to bake you something, but with everything going on I decided a gift card would be best.
Finley taped the envelope to our stoop and sure enough, Bill drove down the driveway, delivered a stack of mail held together with a rubber band, and knelt down to pick up the envelope addressed to him. Two days later there was a letter waiting in the mailbox for Finley.
It read:
Finley,
Thank you for the gift card and kind words. Your thoughtfulness of others is a great character in a person.
Your kindness is truly appreciated and heartfelt.
Bill
the mailman
A friend once wrote that I could write about a trip to the mailbox and make people cry. Funny the power and tenderness wrapped up in mail and the care it represents.
Sadly I’m a mail carrier.. I so appreciate my clients but am in constant fear of accepting anything personal while working. For one it could be a trap by a postal inspector, and if I do indulge it’s one gift for the season , that’s from October to February.. one gift with the value at max 20. .. one client out of 450 would be allowed to give me a gift .. that would appear as favoritism . I’ve simply asked my clients to not leave me anything because of the danger of termination. The postal organization doesn’t look for ways to reward efforts, on the contrary they constantly look for infractions and even go to the extent of entrapment when it comes to their employees. Not everyone that delivers mail gets a pension snd some are paid once a month .. and that makes simple living difficult at times . They don’t have any positive motivation techniques, they only penalize even if your not to blame , it’s well someone’s gotta be accountable. If you ever wondered why your carrier does not engage .. this is a brief synopsis to start from . Thank you for being considerate of your carrier.. kind words can lift the heaviest of hearts
Charles, thank you for commenting, and for carrying the mail. It’s an odd thing, the relationship with the mail. It’s at once intimate and impersonal. I am sorry you have to be so cautious. Have a wonderful holiday season.