Seasonal Gratuities

This morning with our delivered Marietta Daily Journal was a Christmas card from the carrier wishing us a Merry Christmas. I noticed he had a Muslin type of name, not saying he is of that faith but I would not be surprised if he is. His card used the word Christmas and it wished us a Merry one.

Of course there is unspoken reason he wished us a Merry Christmas. So, we would wish him one back. His address was included. He is hoping we might see it in our hearts to show our appreciation in a monetarily sort of way, which we will.

He has our paper in our driveway by 5:30 most mornings, and not later than 6:00 am, and if it is later than that things were beyond his control, like if the press broke down, which happens.

His card reminded me of when I was a paper boy near downtown Marietta. The area my route was in a couple of years ago was the highest crime rate in the town. But not anymore – the houses were bulldozed away and is being replaced by more expensive houses. And in these new expensive homes you are less likely to have domestic violence and if there is any crime at all it is the white collar crime of embezzling.

On my route, most weeks I was lucky to earn $10 or $15, considering the people that skipped out without paying and some people who couldn’t afford to pay that week and so on. But it Christmas time everybody came through and it all became worth-while. I delivered papers in the rain, sleet, and snow – and people showed me their appreciation in Christmas gratuities. Two or three of my customers gave me $100 bills. And a lot gave me between $10 and $25.

So, with my memory still intact, I plan to mail the paper man a gratuity and a thanks.

We also give the garbage men some cash and Sandi, our box section postal clerk who goes beyond what is required to get our mail to us. And, get this: We monetarily thank the carrier of this route that does not deliver our mail. He should, by all rights, return our mail to the sender when it comes to him with our street address. But each year I send him a Christmas card thanking him for “taking care of our mail”…. Which he hands off to Sandi the box section lady. It has to be done. Not only do we get all the mail from people who don’t have our PO address but I get a big friendly wave from the carrier and sometimes even a honk if I am out in the yard working when he does this street.

But, I think these people who service you in one way or another need a little recognition once a year to show they are appreciated. They sure don’t get it in their pay check.