Does anyone have any clues what to give the mailman?? He is a great person.
Last year I made him homemade candy and bread. I would like to do something different for him this year.

Anna

A friend of mine is a UPS driver and he would receive gifts such as boxed chocolates, mugs, tshirts, movie gc's, and cd's. Baked goods are a great idea. It's so thoughtful of you to think of your mailman. :)

last summer I had surgery adn our box is across the road and i couldn't get there to get the mail so my neighbor lady called the p.o and told our carrier I was unable to get the mail for 2 weeks so each day he brought the mail to the door and checked to make sure I was okay and if i needed anything while he was here. I set him up with home made chocolate and home made bread last year at Xmas time. a Gc is a good idea. There isn't much close by to do but I'm thinking about one so he can take his wife to dinner one night. :)

I'm a scrooge, I refuse to give a mailman a gift (unless they were a close personal friend, then I would...but because of friendship not job!) I look at it this way...anyone working for the p.o. makes a HECK of a lot more money than us. They are just doing there job and I'm not giving them EXTRA for it...now, if they were doing something far above the job duties then I'd consider it (like someone said bringing mail to the door due to infirmity but only if it were a long term thing). Truthfully though, I don't get any extraordinary service from our mailman...our mailbox was down a couple days due to the county redoing our ditchways...did the mailman bother to deliver it to my door. NO...they just wouldn't deliver our mail until we had a box back up...even though it was OBVIOUS why our box was down...so too bad, lol...another time someone damaged our rural box...and the mailman put a notice on it the next day that they wouldn't deliver mail until we got a new one...the rat! I'm not strong enough to put one up, and dh was not able to at that time (out of town...or something, I don't remember which it was that time...) Then need we discuss the envelopes that say DO NOT FOLD: PHOTOGRAPHS ENCLOSED all over the outside that get squashed and jammed in (and we are talking expensive studio type stuff...not cheap stuff either...)

I"m sorry you carrier doesn't care about his customers. I live in a rural area too and even though I work for the post office I do'nt always agree with policies and such but I wouldn't trade my guy for anything. He looks out for the people on his route.

I have been trying to decide what to give our mailman this year. Ordinarily I would agree with Pat and not get the mail man anything because he is doing he job, but we have had an extraordinary amount of stuff delievered to our house this year. I have been a frequent visiter to some freebie sites and have ordered a lot of samples and cheap stuff over the internet. Some days our mailman is here 3 times a day dropping off packages, so I do feel like he is going above the call of duty.

I am thinking about giving him a gift certificate. Nothing big, maybe just a $5 gift certificate to a fast food place or maybe a free movie rental.

I am a receptionist at a company, and as such deal with bike messengers, the Fed Ex man, the UPS man, and the mail man. I myself, not as a representative of my company, who can't even give me a Christmas present, let alone the mail man, give them a little present. Apparently I am a rarity, because the bike messengers STILL talk about the fudge I sent to the dispatch office last year.

If you don't ever actually see your mail carrier, then not much point in giving him anything, unless he/she gives you extraordinary service. However, if you see them on a regular basis, and talk with them, and they are pleasant to you, yes, give them something.

And don't forget the paper carrier also! :-) Or your bus driver, if you have a regular daily driver. Who cares if these people make more money than you? Don't be a scrooge. If they are pleasant to you (and it sounds like some mail carriers haven't been, but if they are), give them a little something.

Doesn't have to be food. A nice plant, or a gift certificate to a bookstore or alot of grocery and drug stores offer gift cards.