Carrier Appreciation

I've been finding a lot of great posts over at the Letter Writers Alliance blog. And yesterday, when I was sifting through my Google Reader for all the good stuff that I'd put off reading during my recent exam period, I came across this post about seasonal gifts to letter carriers.

Inspired, I made an inquiry with Maurice, the one postal carrier that I know, about his position on gifts from postal customers. According to Maurice, gifts from customers are common from customers whose mailboxes he has served for many years, but they are never expected.

Despite USPS policy against gifts of money, Maurice says that money is the most common present letter carriers receive, whether it be as cash or gift cards. More interestingly, Maurice says that the second most common gift he personally receives are bottles of liquor. One postal customer has given him a bottle of Jack Daniels every year for the last six.

Less frequent gifts have been t-shirts, homemade goods, baked goods, and the one item Maurice never consumes, fruit cake.

With all of this information, I wondered what ever I should gift to my letter carriers in appreciation for their great year of service? According to Maurice, I shouldn't bother, because my building is not a full route, so multiple carriers serve the building on different days, making a gift a reward for one carrier, leaving out the others. Maurice's argument makes sense... but still, there's gotta be a way to make this work... ideas?

For a rundown on the regulations regarding the gifts postal carriers may receive, see this article from Associated Content.