Dear Postman:

[sidmand]

Not that I mind the steps anymore (because I have my Fitbit and I'm trying to get as many steps as I can), but...

If you can't fit all the mail in the mailbox and have to come up to my front door anyway to leave a package...why not bring ALL of the mail to the front door?

[AJP]

Annoying for sure!
Mine left my mail in the mailbox one day and an amazon box half way up my walkway. It was about 10 more steps to the front door, but she must have figured it was "good" enough there.

[sidmand]

I know it's supremely petty! My old mailman used to bring everything up and I didn't know how spoiled I was.

To be fair I walk down to the end of the driveway just for the heck of it to get another floor (my driveway is pretty steep)...but still.

[sarahsthreads]

Our regular guy brings everything to the door, and if I'm not home must just walk the rest back to the box (where his truck is waiting anyway), but when there's a sub, yeah, s/he just brings the package to the door and leaves the rest in the box. I don't quite get that.

Then again, when we have a sub, I'm happy if we get any mail at all.

The numbering on our street is very confusing, and despite our house number being affixed to our mailbox both on the top and front and the entire address written in fluorescent letters INSIDE our mailbox door, when there's a sub we often don't get any mail at all. Or all of our neighbor's mail (but they don't get ours). Or random mail from a house with a completely different number on a completely different street.

I often wonder how many important pieces of mail I've not gotten over the years...

Sarah

[BunnyBee]

Ours just rubberbands the extra crap to the box. So of course it falls in the street or shrubbery. She will spend FOREVER out there trying to balance it, adding more bands, and she could've brought the stuff inside and made herself a snack in the time she spends. My oldest suggested giving her a roll of duct tape as a holiday gift.

[dogmom]

They aren't supposed to leave the mail on the doorstep. Your mailbox is considered Federal property. (For real.) If someone steals mail from a mailbox it is a Federal crime.

[sidmand]

Wouldn't the packages that were supposed to be in the mailbox more likely to be stolen? How come it's okay to leave those? (Just wondering, not being snarky!)

[dogmom]

Wouldn't the packages that were supposed to be in the mailbox more likely to be stolen? How come it's okay to leave those? (Just wondering, not being snarky!)

It's not a matter of it not being stolen. It's a matter of the severity of the crime they can be charged with. The standard of practice is to leave it as close to the mailbox as possible if it does not fit in the mailbox. May letter carrier's will be nice and go the extra step of taking it to the door, but that is not required. Also, the routes have been collapsing over the years with more doors to deliver to in less times. (My father was a letter carrier, routes get assessed by inspectors every year to time, but they don't allow extra time for heavy mail volume times.) They are also using more subs and lower pay with less experience. Less time to prep and sort the mail in the office.

I feel like a mailman can't really win. I would rather they take it to the Office and leave me a slip. Other people will complain if they do that. It all depends on the person and they don't know.

[crl]

They aren't supposed to leave the mail on the doorstep. Your mailbox is considered Federal property. (For real.) If someone steals mail from a mailbox it is a Federal crime.

Hmm. We have a mail slot and it's old (cause the house is old and the slot is built in to the side of the house ). Magazines and catalogs don't really fit I out slot. Our carrier just dumps all that stuff on our front entryway. I wonder of that's what he is supposed to do? I don't love it, but I can't think what else he could do and I don't feel like spending a couple grand on widening our mail slot. . . .

Just rambling. Sorry.

Catherine

[BunnyBee]

Hmm. We have a mail slot and it's old (cause the house is old and the slot is built in to the side of the house ). Magazines and catalogs don't really fit I out slot. Our carrier just dumps all that stuff on our front entryway. I wonder of that's what he is supposed to do? I don't love it, but I can't think what else he could do and I don't feel like spending a couple grand on widening our mail slot. . . .

Just rambling. Sorry.

Catherine

Close off the mail slot and add a larger, decorative mailbox to your porch. A friend of mine lives in an historical home in an, ah, transitional neighborhood and added a custom bench to her porch that's really a locker for UPS/Fed Ex or Priority Mail packages. It wasn't crazy expensive. They may exist on the interwebs, but she had their handyman rig something.