Today as I collected my mail, a totally random question occurred to me.
It’s customary in some quarters to leave a small gift in your mail box for the carrier around Christmas time. I wondered what could happen to a person who was caught stealing those gifts.
After all, they’re not interfering with the * mail * so it’s not a felony . . . or is it? Would stealing anything out of a mailbox merit the same punishment? Would it just be simple theft charges?
However… USPS Letter carriers are not supposed to accept cash gifts, and may only accept merchandise of negligible value (can’t recall the amount, it’s been a few years). So, even if the thief were caught, the cash would likely be forfeited or returned to the donor.
I remember a few slacker carriers who could magically complete their routes unassisted the last two weeks before Christmas so no “important mail” would get misplaced. They’d pick up tips from customers whose mail they had personally delivered perhaps a dozen times that year. I was really impressed with the one carrier who thanked me for doing a good job subbing on his route and gave me some of his take.
For those in The Service, I was senior unassigned regular in an office of around 60 routes, so I could cherry-pick the routes I covered as the regulars took leave. Worked with some truly great folks, worked with some of the world’s biggest whiners and losers, met some great customers, never got bit. A very interesting seven years of my life.
Cap’n: I’m in the service, never been bitten, make great Xmas tips,met more nice people than whingers. all in all if you can handle the early start not a bad job at all.
Even when it’s raining you gotta remember…rain stops when it reaches your skin:D
Spogga - what time do you start? My office start time was 7:00 when I began in '93, except for the first of the month when everyone on the overtime list and all the part-timers had to come in at 6:00 to fill out paperwork for foodstamps (certified mail). This was done away with about five years ago when our state assistance department (Vermont) went to an electronic debit card for food assistance. A collective sigh was heaved by all.
Our start times were later pushed back (!) to 7:30. This gave the local processing plant more time to sort mail, increasing likelihood of end-to-end local mail making it in 24 hours, and therefore increasing likelihood of bonus for the local Postmaster. In reality, it just increased overtime costs and meant half an hour less of daylight delivery time during winter. I delivered mail in the dark on dozens of occasions - it sucked!
I think the posties here in New Zealand start at 5 or something, and our mail is usually here before noon. Plus they ride bikes and don’t carry nearly the volume of admail. Most admail here is carried by local kids contracted by ad agencies, and you can put a notice on your mailbox declining it. What a concept!
Reepicheep - don’t sweat it about not tipping the carrier in cash. A cold glass of water on a steamy day or a personal thankyou instead of whinging “its just bills and junk” goes a long way. And despite a few of them protesting to the contrary, letter carriers are well-paid.
Cap’n: I start at 5 usually finished around 11.30 and home witha cuppa coffee in my sweaty fist about 20 mins later.
We also have bikes and I suspect a lot more crap to deliver than NZ posties. Most days I have 4-5 FULL bags of mail but it goes pretty rapid as I deliver in an area where most people work from home, they get loads of crap every day but it makes it easier for me 'cos it’s just a case of bunging the whole lot in one bundle through the box.
Downside is that most of the driveways are about 400 yds long, easy weekdays to ride up them but Saturday the lazy buggers clutter up the drive with cars.
We have to deliver leaflets and such, if somebody doesn’t want them they have to write to the office stating so.
We do get paid extra for the leaflets but it is a pittance ranging from 1.67p to 3.335p per item.
Here in NZ all postboxes have to be mounted at the street so the postie doesn’t have to dismount. I used to have a hell of a time finding some of the ones I delivered to (on foot) in the States. On the other hand, I got to go some pretty cool places and meet interesting people because of that. Found a fantastic apartment as well, an old carriage house I ended up renting for seven years.
But we’re veering off topic here and I s’pose we haven’t exactly answered the OPs question so I’ll just shut up and go back to my tea. I would suspect removing anything from a mailbox would be a crime, as the USPS considers itself as having jurisdiction within its confines.