Is my postman normal?

[katemary63]

We've go a horn honker here, too, in rural Arkansas. She honks and then leaves. I guess she's just letting know that the package is out there. I appreciate it because she has to come 1/4 mile down the road past our mailbox to get to our house.

[Nakia]

I didn't read all the responses- but I live in a little town called Franklin in NC.:001_smile:

We have had definite issues with mail/ mail carriers/ and even the UPS here.

 

When we moved here- the postman would drive up our road, drive into the driveway, honk, and then I would come out, he would get out and give me the package and the mail.

 

Then we moved. We live a half mile off of the main road and the postman won't come up. We put in a large mailbox. They fit very small things in it. Otherwise- it is a constant trip to the post office with the mail card. So- we basically get every package a day later- as they deliver the card the day they would have delivered the package. They don't deliver our mail until late afternoon... and we can't pick it up until the next day.

 

There have been three times that an alternate post carrier has brought mail up to our door (he was subbing) and all three times I felt that it was God!

Once was a bread shipment, another a chocolate shipment, and another audio books on a really bad day! :D

 

Honestly, the mail here and UPS has been a really big adjustment from the part of PA we came from. :grouphug:

I don't know if you will be able to change your situation...

But I am writing to say: hey! I know how you feel!

Rebecca

 

 

Do you live in the town of Franklin near Sylva? If so, you aren't that far from me!

[Tammy]

My mail carrier will actually pull my mailbox door off....then throw it on the ground.....

[Marylou]

Our mail lady used to come to the door with packages until recently when we acquired an outside dog. Now she honks and waits. I don't blame her. I don't like unknown animals running up to me. we live in the country, BTW.

 

Did you recently get a pet that might be making him apprehensive to get out of the car?

[Nakia]

Our mail lady used to come to the door with packages until recently when we acquired an outside dog. Now she honks and waits. I don't blame her. I don't like unknown animals running up to me. we live in the country, BTW.

 

Did you recently get a pet that might be making him apprehensive to get out of the car?

 

We have a dog but she is either in the house or out in the fenced in part of the yard that he would not have to enter to get in the house.

[Rebecca]

Do you live in the town of Franklin near Sylva? If so, you aren't that far from me!

 

Yes! :001_smile:

We are "neighbors."

Seems like similar things go on round these parts... :001_smile:

[Remudamom]

Our mailman honks because he's afraid of our dogs. Rightly so, they'd take him off at the waist. Our last mailman, who is now retired was a hoot. He'd come in, leave the package on the kitchen bar and leave. Freaked my big city mom out once "HONEY.....some man just walked into your kitchen and left a package!!"

 

Once when we had company he came in, sat down at the kitchen table and visited a while. We didn't mind, he wanted to catch up with them too!

 

I saw him the day after he delivered a package, "What were you doing??? I hollered and hollered and no one answered me. I figured you were upstairs."

 

We know him, his wife, his mom, his children and his grandchildren. We went to church together. I love small towns. And I make sure I'm dressed when I walk around the house.

[AnnetteB]

Judy honks as she comes up the driveway :) We dash out there in barefeet sometimes. We don't mind saying hello and thanking her for the package. If we aren't home she leaves it on the doorstep. What gets me mad is when her relief person crams packages into the mailbox that should be brought up to the house :glare:

[Kathleen in VA]

There are several letter carriers in our family. What I've seen, through them, is that the management of each post office can vary greatly. So where one carrier might be able to take a couple minutes to go out of her way for her customer's convenience, another carrier in another office might get in trouble for not following SOP to.the.letter. KWIM? (In some places carriers are actually being watched or timed in one way or another.)

 

Being a letter carrier is a physically demanding job. Can you imagine 30 years of stairs for the city/suburban carrier? The good carriers realize that we are their customers and they are worth their weight in gold! The carriers with no regard for customers or basic rules of conduct (no cell phones, smoking etc) make me crazy!

 

My husband is a "city carrier" and I can say without hesitation that the USPS is one of the most poorly managed outfits in the world. My husband was delivering an overnight express mail one day (turns out it was a passport) and was bitten by the family dog on his way up the walk. He got reprimanded and written up for getting bitten and a letter of warning was put in his file. (He should have known there was a dog there! - no matter that the dog is usually in the back yard and was sleeping behind a tree) Now imagine if he had decided that there was a dog on the property and did not deliver the package. It's possible someone would have missed a flight due to not having their passport in time. He tried to help the customer and it ended up biting him back - pun intended.:) You can see why letter carriers aren't real excited about facing dogs - it's not the dogs they're afraid of.

 

But I happen to think a job is a job, and if I'm paying for a service, I want the service person to do the job. Sitting and honking to get my attention is rude. It's half-ass on the part of the delivery person. Period. (Btw, "rural route" is a misnomer in our case. Our home is directly on a well-traveled road, a mile outside the city limits.)

 

When we moved here, a very nice guy delivered our mail in a very normal manner. Unfortunately, he moved on soon after we arrived and we've spent the ensuing years dealing with carriers who will do anything to avoid actually getting out of their vehicle. Year after year after year, these women (we've cycled through carriers) sat out there leaning on the horn, rain or shine, when we had a package. And year after year after year I'd tell them, "Please don't just sit out here honking on your horn. Please place the package on the porch."

 

They insisted they "weren't allowed" to get out and bring the package to the door. Ahem. They repeatedly expressed concern about our dog. (We've never owned a dog; there are no dogs in the vicinity of our home.) The postmaster defended them. After posting (ha! no pun intended intended!) about it here, chatting with a few others who are subjected to the horn-honking, the retirement of one postmaster and arrival of another, I learned a thing or two. I hadn't realized, for example, that these rural route carriers have a totally different contract than genuine postal employees.

I know my husband sincerely desires to give good service to his patrons (he actually visits some of the elderly patrons when they are in the hospital - on his own time, of course) but he is under very strict time restraints and is managed very poorly. Management is only interested in the bottom line and that generally means NO OVERTIME. Get all the mail delivered in the shortest amount of time. They do not consider high mail volume, inclement weather, dogs, gravel driveways, or anything else in this equation. It is only the bottom line. Most carriers want to cater to their customers, but very often their job is on the line. The carrier supervisors are also under pressure from folks higher up than they are - it just keeps going on up the chain.

 

Rural carriers are subcontractors - they belong to a separate union than city carriers and I imagine every post office that has rural carriers gives them different instructions, in spite of what the regulation book says. Oh, and btw, it does not matter whether you live in an area that appears rural - it is only a "rural route" because the route has been subcontracted out and is not carried by a city carrier. All the routes in my county are considered rural even though most of the houses are in your typical subdivision.

 

The city carriers are employees of the post office and follow the same rules nationwide - although those rules are up for interpretation. Expect worse service in the future. The post office makes all of its money on postage - it is not federally funded - only federally governed (consider all the federally regulated outfits and how well they are run.:)) They lost $3 billion last year and are cutting carriers left and right. My husbands route was readjusted a year or two ago and is scheduled to be readjusted soon. They notoriously add to his route after each adjustment and give him major amounts of grief if he cannot deliver the new larger route in the same 8 hours.

 

[Jeanne in MN]

Our mailman drives up and honks the horn too. I've never thought it weird and I've never thought to be upset about it. I look at it this way:

 

1. I am usually expecting those packages and am happy to run out to get them!

2. What if the mail deliverer had to get out at numerous houses along a route to deliver packages? What a pain in the butt that would be for them.

3. Get a bigger mailbox and it won't be as much of an issue.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

we live in a little town called Maggie Valley, NC.

 

It's totally normal for Bostic, NC... :001_smile:

Georgia

 

I didn't read all the responses- but I live in a little town called Franklin in NC.:001_smile:

 

And it happens here in Asheville, too. :-) Funny thing is that my mailman honks for all the other houses on the street, but not mine. I think it's because my house is a little further away from the road than the other houses and I don't think I could hear it if he did honk.

[Penelope]

I loved my old postman. He'd bring the packages to the door and knock.

 

I had one that would honk in the driveway, as you described.

 

I had another for a few months, that would not do either one; she would not even attempt to leave the packages but would fill out one of those slips for me to come and pick them up. :confused: Not ones that required a signature, either.

[mcconnellboys]

Love where you live! I used to go to Junaluska growing up and would like to have a summer house there. Regarding your mailman, will he give up and go away if you ignore him? I get the feeling he's just trying to make sure you know you have packages outside so they won't disappear, get wet later, etc. Some folks don't realize how loud they're being, LOL.....

[CookieMonster]

When we have a package to be delivered that will not fit in our mailbox, the mailman will pull into my driveway and blow his horn until I come out there. It makes me nuts!!! Is this normal? What does your postman do in this case?

 

This is actual standard postal procedure for rural routes. I have read it in their regulations on their website.

 

When I lived in a rural area, the postman did this as well. Hanging a bag with a large envelope from the mailbox was also done, but only because no one in those parts would have complained about it. In reality, this is against postal procedure.

 

And while we're on the subject of postal procedure, I have recently been informed that stiff cardboard envelopes mean nothing to the postal service. *If* they are clearly marked "do not bend", the postman is expected, but *not required* to respect that. If they are not marked "do not bend" then it is expected that the postman will bend the envelope to fit into your mailbox - even if it is a very, very stiff, thick 15"x10" cardboard envelope and you have a standard size mailbox.

 

:glare:

[Veritaserum]

We have a communal mailbox for the 13 houses around us. There are two medium/small package compartments. If a package doesn't fit, the mail carrier will either fill out one of those detestable slips for PO pick-up (even when signature isn't required) or s/he will put it on our porch. I vastly prefer the porch. :)

 

As an aside, how many of you get mail that isn't yours? There's someone a few blocks away from us with the same first name as my husband and the same house number as us. We get his mail at least a couple of times a month. I always put it back in the box with a "delivered to wrong address" message. I does make me wonder what he might be getting that's ours.... :001_huh:

[joannqn]

We vote for Angelo, our lovely mail carrier.

 

We used to have our mail slot in the front screen door (old house) -- no mailbox -- so he would come up the porch steps and drop the mail through the slot. Trouble was, he was SMOKING the whole time, talking on his cell phone, and BLOWING SMOKE through the screen door (intentionally).

 

My husband was home one day and just about flipped out when he saw this. He politely asked Angelo to please not smoke on our property, nor blow smoke through our screen door. In response, Angelo flicked his (lit) cigarette into our bushes (in dry August). Nice.

 

He continued to blow smoke through the screen door. All our mail smelled like cigarette smoke. At the time, I had a toddler and was pregnant with the twins, so my husband filed a complaint with the USPS against Angelo. As far as we know, no one did anything about it. [My husband informs me that we actually filed two complaints, one a few months after the original complaint. No response, no change of behavior.]

 

SO.... I dug a post hole and put in a mailbox on the street. We see less of Angelo, and that's fine with us. Our mail still stinks, but most of it's junk mail, anyway. It goes right in the garbage can. :tongue_smilie:

 

We had a smoking mailman also. Thing is...I'm VERY allergic to cigarette smoke. If I can smell it (even outside from a distance) it causes me fairly major allergic symptoms and makes me violently nauseous.

 

Anyway, we just had a MAJOR conflict with a current sub. My route doesn't have a regular carrier so we get whoever they can get to do it that day. He comes up to my door last Thursday and knocks to give us a small package. My daughter (age 9) opens the door as I'm rounding the corner from the bathroom so I saw everything that happened after. My dog slipped past my daughter. In 7 1/2 years, this dog has NEVER, not once, made a single aggressive move towards anyone or anything. He's a wimp. He likes to step out on the porch and greet people for a second before returning to the house. You could do just about anything to him and he'll retreat to his kennel to hide rather than defend himself. Anyway, the second he saw the dog (who did not bark, bare his teeth, growl, jump, or do anything else aggressive in any way), he grabbed my dog by the face with both hands. My dog yelped in pain and tried to retreat by he wouldn't let go. I ran, yelling that he was friendly. He yelled at me, "To h*ll he is". I gestured for the dog to go inside which he immediately did and told the guy to calm down because he was over-reacting. The dog did not try to bite him. He yelled at me again and refused to give me my mail. I felt that he physically attacked my dog without provocation, verbally assaulted me in front of my children, terrified my daughter (she was in tears), and withheld my mail without cause.

 

I talked to the supervisor and learned that they train their mail carriers to assume all dogs are dangerous...creating an unnecessary fear that will put them in more danger. They are to never touch the dog but rather put their satchel between them and the dog and use their spray. I pointed out to her that he did not follow their procedure. He also has a right not to deliver mail if the dog is present. Well, he wouldn't give me the mail even after the dog was inside behind a closed door so I pointed out the break in that policy. They then stopped my mail, without notice after I was promised it would be delivered the next day, because he told a whole different story. I had to promise, in writing, to keep my dog locked up from 9am to 6pm in order to get my mail delivered. I can't even take my dog for a walk...if I do and we accidentally walk out as he is coming near the house they can stop delivery permanently.

 

Basically, it boils down to that fact that the mail man can do anything they want and you have no recourse if they give a different story...which, of course, they are going to in order to save their job.

 

Our priority guy delivered a package to us today. We've known him for 9 years and love the guy. He laughed at the whole situation because he knew that the guy was lying. He knows our dog well and said everyone at the station knows our dog is super friendly. He admitted that unfortunately they will believe the carrier no matter what and we really do have no recourse.

[joannqn]

As an aside, how many of you get mail that isn't yours? There's someone a few blocks away from us with the same first name as my husband and the same house number as us. We get his mail at least a couple of times a month. I always put it back in the box with a "delivered to wrong address" message. I does make me wonder what he might be getting that's ours.... :001_huh:

 

Our address is 3908 abc street.

 

We get mail for....

3904 abc street

3912 abc street

3809 abc street

43xx abc street

3908 def street

3908 ghi street

 

We KNOW that both of our neighbors (on either side) get our mail regularly and we've had someone from one of the other streets deliver our mail once.

[katilac]

If I had to only go as far as the driveway to get my mail, even if I had to do it just out of bed in the morning I wouldn't complain. If the postal working is dancing naked in my driveway I would be happy to go out and get the mail from him/her because that means I didn't have to go to the post office and pick it up.

 

So it is all a matter of perspective. I wouldn't think it annoying, weird or rude at all if someone is honking for me to go to the driveway and get a package.

 

See, I disagree with the "just be thankful you don't have to" argument. In this case and almost every other.

 

I'm thankful that I can afford to eat out, and I'm thankful that there are plenty of excellent restaurants in my area, but that thankfulness does not translate into accepting below par service. If you take an hour to serve me, I'm going to complain.

 

I used a laundromat for many years, and I am thankful that I now have a washer and dryer in my house, but that thankfulness does not extend to accepting below par equipment. If you deliver my new washer with a dent in it, I'm going to complain.

 

Likewise, I am thankful that I have mail service, but it's not a charity venture. People pay for it, and my thankfulness has nothing to do with their job performance. I expect my mail carrier to do the job.

Edited February 4, 2009 by katilac

[1bassoon]

This is a really interesting thread!

 

Our postman (woman?) is terrific - but whoever the carrier is who delivers priority mail pulls into our driveway, and leaves the package on top of our garbage can.

 

Hello? The GARBAGE can? Dh almost threw away dd10s Christmas present!

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Ours just leaves a notice in our mailbox, and takes the package back to the post office. I have to go get it the next day (he/she doesn't try to redeliver).

[coop]

Our mail "woman" honked and complained about coming down our driveway because we have no place to turn around. So, we built a large box and installed it at the top of our driveway. Now she can leave it in the box.

 

By the way, she still honks, but the beginning of our driveway is so far away that I can't hear it anymore:001_smile:

HA!

 

Shannon

 

PS -- I'm new here and this is my first post. So glad it could be such an important one.:lol:

[LizzyBee]

Mine honks, too! If I don't come, she'll leave it on the porch, though.

 

This is what ours does. She honks the horn, gets out of the car and grabs our package and mail, and walks toward the house. If she gets to the porch before we get out, she leaves the package on the porch and takes the mail to the box. Otherwise, she hands us the package and mail then leaves. I never gave it enough thought to consider whether we should be irritated or whether she's following official policy. I just get excited to get a package.

[buddhabelly]

I thought that was the cutest thing. You see, that would only work in a town small enough that nobody locks their cars. It was a rainy place, so there was NEVER any leaving packages "on the doorstep." They would be completely ruined, or even float away.....

 

Julie

[Parrothead]

See, I disagree with the "just be thankful you don't have to" argument. In this case and almost every other.

 

I'm thankful that I can afford to eat out, and I'm thankful that there are plenty of excellent restaurants in my area, but that thankfulness does not translate into accepting below par service. If you take an hour to serve me, I'm going to complain.

 

I used a laundromat for many years, and I am thankful that I now have a washer and dryer in my house, but that thankfulness does not extend to accepting below par equipment. If you deliver my new washer with a dent in it, I'm going to complain.

 

Likewise, I am thankful that I have mail service, but it's not a charity venture. People pay for it, and my thankfulness has nothing to do with their job performance. I expect my mail carrier to do the job.

Like I said, it is a matter of perspective. At least you are getting a service you can complain about. I'm paying for the same service, but not getting it. And there is nothing I can do to get the service I'm paying for. I'd be very happy to have crappy service. Crappy service is better than none.

 

Everyday either dh or I have to physically leave the house, yard, street, drive, go into the post office and pick up the mail. So I'll say it again, crappy service is better than no service.

 

And it isn't as if I have a choice. To use your restaurant analogy, you can choose to go to another restaurant. You can choose to get a new machine when the other one is damaged in delivery. I can't choose a new post office.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Parrothead

[nukeswife]

We had a smoking mailman also. Thing is...I'm VERY allergic to cigarette smoke. If I can smell it (even outside from a distance) it causes me fairly major allergic symptoms and makes me violently nauseous.

 

Anyway, we just had a MAJOR conflict with a current sub. My route doesn't have a regular carrier so we get whoever they can get to do it that day. He comes up to my door last Thursday and knocks to give us a small package. My daughter (age 9) opens the door as I'm rounding the corner from the bathroom so I saw everything that happened after. My dog slipped past my daughter. In 7 1/2 years, this dog has NEVER, not once, made a single aggressive move towards anyone or anything. He's a wimp. He likes to step out on the porch and greet people for a second before returning to the house. You could do just about anything to him and he'll retreat to his kennel to hide rather than defend himself. Anyway, the second he saw the dog (who did not bark, bare his teeth, growl, jump, or do anything else aggressive in any way), he grabbed my dog by the face with both hands. My dog yelped in pain and tried to retreat by he wouldn't let go. I ran, yelling that he was friendly. He yelled at me, "To h*ll he is". I gestured for the dog to go inside which he immediately did and told the guy to calm down because he was over-reacting. The dog did not try to bite him. He yelled at me again and refused to give me my mail. I felt that he physically attacked my dog without provocation, verbally assaulted me in front of my children, terrified my daughter (she was in tears), and withheld my mail without cause.

 

I talked to the supervisor and learned that they train their mail carriers to assume all dogs are dangerous...creating an unnecessary fear that will put them in more danger. They are to never touch the dog but rather put their satchel between them and the dog and use their spray. I pointed out to her that he did not follow their procedure. He also has a right not to deliver mail if the dog is present. Well, he wouldn't give me the mail even after the dog was inside behind a closed door so I pointed out the break in that policy. They then stopped my mail, without notice after I was promised it would be delivered the next day, because he told a whole different story. I had to promise, in writing, to keep my dog locked up from 9am to 6pm in order to get my mail delivered. I can't even take my dog for a walk...if I do and we accidentally walk out as he is coming near the house they can stop delivery permanently.

 

Basically, it boils down to that fact that the mail man can do anything they want and you have no recourse if they give a different story...which, of course, they are going to in order to save their job.

 

Our priority guy delivered a package to us today. We've known him for 9 years and love the guy. He laughed at the whole situation because he knew that the guy was lying. He knows our dog well and said everyone at the station knows our dog is super friendly. He admitted that unfortunately they will believe the carrier no matter what and we really do have no recourse.

 

I feel for what happened but I have to say even though you think your dog is harmless and your regular carriers believes that to be true you never can tell. As I said in a previous post my mom has been a mail carrier for almost 30 years and she was once bit by a dog she'd seen and petted almost every day for 11 years. She was delivering mail just like normal (no changes in appearance or anything like that) and said "Hey Chuckie, and was about to get out one of the milkbones she carries for all her "four legged customers" suddenly the dog lunged at her and took a softball size chunk out of her calf. I'm not trying to lesson your situation, but just wanted to say "Never say Never"

[Jenn in Mo]

When I lived in the country, our mailman did the same thing. The third time it happened, I ran waving and motioning "ssshhhhhhh" and said "babies are sleeping".....he stopped from then on, thank goodness.

 

Wanna hear a "weird mailman" story? I was having a yardsale at a friend's house and was bent over assembling a baby crib when her mailman delivered a package to her. Seeing ONLY MY REAR END, he said "Hey! You're 608 Christopher St.!" ????

 

Okay, that's not really my address, but he said my real address. I had no idea my backside was so recognizable.

[Chelle in MO]

Our mail "woman" honked and complained about coming down our driveway because we have no place to turn around. So, we built a large box and installed it at the top of our driveway. Now she can leave it in the box.

 

By the way, she still honks, but the beginning of our driveway is so far away that I can't hear it anymore:001_smile:

HA!

 

Shannon

 

PS -- I'm new here and this is my first post. So glad it could be such an important one.:lol:

Welcome, coop! Your contribution to this discussion is invaluable! ;)

 

Chelle

[Chelle in MO]

When I lived in the country, our mailman did the same thing. The third time it happened, I ran waving and motioning "ssshhhhhhh" and said "babies are sleeping".....he stopped from then on, thank goodness.

 

Wanna hear a "weird mailman" story? I was having a yardsale at a friend's house and was bent over assembling a baby crib when her mailman delivered a package to her. Seeing ONLY MY REAR END, he said "Hey! You're 608 Christopher St.!" ????

 

Okay, that's not really my address, but he said my real address. I had no idea my backside was so recognizable.

Oh, boy! I'd be really freaked out by that! It must've been a good view! :lol:

 

Chelle

[Julieofsardis]

My postman does the drive up thing. I'm honestly not sure if he honks because, when I see him I run out to get my package. Now, there have been times when I wasn't home and he left the package on the doorstep.

 

I thought it was the nicest thing in the world. I've considered giving him a gift card or baking him something. I thought standard procedure was for them to leave a card for you to come pick it up. My post office is 25 miles away. I am really grateful that I don't have to drive there to get a package. And then as someone else said, that would make my package a day later.

 

I just can't imagine why anyone would consider this rude behavior. Of course, I also go out to meet the UPS or FedEx man.

[StaceyinLA]

Our mail lady will honk if I am home. If I am not home, she'll get out and leave the package on my back porch. I love my mail lady so I am not complaining. She goes out of her way to do nice things for me, and even leaves me goodies in my box on holidays.

 

I am sure it's just a time saver, and I know my dogs probably aggravate her when she has to get out.

[LizzyBee]

I just can't imagine why anyone would consider this rude behavior. Of course, I also go out to meet the UPS or FedEx man.

 

Spin off question: Do your UPS and FedEx carriers honk, and if so, do you think it's rude when they do it?

 

Our UPS and FedEx guys honk, but they are so fast that the package is usually on the porch and they are back to the truck before I get my front door open. Like someone else said, I'd rather anyone who delivers a package to me honks so I know the package is there and I can bring it inside before it gets wet or stolen.

[TrixieB]

We're in the city. They knock and leave it at the door, under the mat. This cracks me up, because they will literally lift up my door mat and place the box underneath ? hUh? I guess it disguises it a little, but it still cracks me up!

Our mailman does this, as does the UPS man. Our neighbors recently got married and it was quite amusing to see their door mat perched atop stacks of huge boxes from Pottery Barn and Macy's just about every day.

[Nakia]

When I lived in the country, our mailman did the same thing. The third time it happened, I ran waving and motioning "ssshhhhhhh" and said "babies are sleeping".....he stopped from then on, thank goodness.

 

Wanna hear a "weird mailman" story? I was having a yardsale at a friend's house and was bent over assembling a baby crib when her mailman delivered a package to her. Seeing ONLY MY REAR END, he said "Hey! You're 608 Christopher St.!" ????

 

Okay, that's not really my address, but he said my real address. I had no idea my backside was so recognizable.

 

 

:lol:

[KS_]

Spin off question: Do your UPS and FedEx carriers honk, and if so, do you think it's rude when they do it?

 

Our UPS and FedEx guys honk, but they are so fast that the package is usually on the porch and they are back to the truck before I get my front door open. Like someone else said, I'd rather anyone who delivers a package to me honks so I know the package is there and I can bring it inside before it gets wet or stolen.

 

No, but we're in a subdivision. Both UPS and Fed Ex bring the packages to the door and ring the bell or knock.

[Tree House Academy]

First off, I love Maggie Valley NC. :) We don't live far from there and take the kids to Ghost Town every now and again.

 

My post man drives down my gravel driveway and puts my package on the porch. Sometimes he honks when he gets here just so if I am home, I will know he has come. Other times, he just leaves the package on the door like a little surprise. One day, you should NOT go out and see what he does. Either that, or go to his car and tell him that if he has a package for you, to just leave it on the porch!

[akmommy]

Our UPS guy usually leaves packages just inside the garage man door. We usually never know he has been here until someone uses that door and discovers the package. We live in a small town and rarely lock the door unless we are going to be gone overnight. If it needs a signature he will usually come to the front door and ring the doorbell unless the dogs are in the yard then he rings the bell on the garage.

We went to high school with our UPS guy and it took me forever to remember his name. Totally freaked me out the first time he called me by name and I had no idea who he was.

 

On the rare occasion that we get a fed ex delivery it's left by the front door or or they ring the front door bell if it needs a signature.

[Veritaserum]

UPS and FedEx knock and leave packages on the porch. Honking would be annoying.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

That's a funny thread title, huh?? Anyway, we live in a little town called Maggie Valley, NC. We are outside city limits on a gravel road with a total of 6 houses. When we have a package to be delivered that will not fit in our mailbox, the mailman will pull into my driveway and blow his horn until I come out there. It makes me nuts!!! Is this normal? What does your postman do in this case? It seems like the person who previously delivered our mail put it in a bag and hung it on the mailbox (if the weather was nice). That's better than me having to put on a coat over my pj's and flip flops to go out and get the mail. :willy_nilly:

 

I always thought it was a Southern country mailman thing. Our mailman always blew the horn as a courtesy to let us know we had a package instead of just leaving a package at the mailbox unattended. I was a grown woman before I knew that's now how people get packages!

[Jenn in Mo]

Oh, boy! I'd be really freaked out by that! It must've been a good view! :lol:

 

Chelle

 

Ha! Or a really terrible view.....memorable anyway. I'm not sure I want to know what it means.:D

[farmgirlinwv]

We lived in a very rural area, but my MIL was the mail carrier. :D So everything delivered to the kitchen. That said, my MIL would never have done that. She might beep in the driveway if she wanted someone to come out and control their dog, but that's it. She delivered pkgs to the house. Your postman sounds lazy or overworked. I know how much they make a year and he should definately be delivering the pkgs to your home.

[MamaT]

I'm not very far from you in Weaverville, NC and our postman always honks if he has a package. It is annoying and IMO a little rude.

[unsinkable]

Our mail "woman" honked and complained about coming down our driveway because we have no place to turn around. So, we built a large box and installed it at the top of our driveway. Now she can leave it in the box.

 

By the way, she still honks, but the beginning of our driveway is so far away that I can't hear it anymore:001_smile:

HA!

 

Shannon

 

PS -- I'm new here and this is my first post. So glad it could be such an important one.:lol:

 

Genius mom of the year! And on her first post!

[Nakia]

Thank you to everyone who understands my frustration and for all the funny stories! I am going to test him by not going out if he honks. I am expecting several packages in the next couple of weeks so we'll see! I'll be sure and update everyone.