There's nothing ever routine about a postal carrier's route from day-to-day. Here are some of the unusual things postal carriers see routinely.
12 Unusual Things Postal Carriers See Every Day
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Crime
Postal carriers are well acquainted with the neighborhoods they cover in their route and often they’ll be the ones to notice something unusual happening. Mail carriers have stopped package thieves around the country from time to time.
See how to prevent package thieves from picking your home and discover the best places to hide valuables in your home.
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IRS Letters
Postal carriers know who is getting audited because those letters from the IRS arrive via certified mail. In addition to IRS letters, any other kind of legal trouble passes through their hands as well. So really, a postal worker is like Santa Claus because they know who’s been naughty or nice.
Get your affairs sorted with a mail organizer and make your home secure with a few tips.
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Traffic Collisions
Often times a rural route deliverer will be the first on the scene of a traffic collision in the country or when a car crashes into a McDonald’s.
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Emergencies
One postal worker we spoke with recalled a time when they came upon a garage fire. They grabbed the neighbors’ garden hose to extinguish the fire before the fire department came to the scene. The postal carrier completed their route after the fire department. There are countless other rescues postal carriers have made in the past.
Know what to do to prevent home fires and how to make sure your smoke detector continues to work properly.
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Life Events
Your postal carrier will know whether someone on their route is expecting, getting married or had a death in the family because of what comes through the mail. They have also a knack of keeping track of who hasn’t retrieved their mail recently and that’s helped save older people who have taken illness while living alone.
See the simple ways to make a home safer for older adults and how a grab bar in the shower can make a huge difference.
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Lost Pets
In addition to keeping an eye on the neighborhood, your mail carrier might be your best bet for finding a lost pet. Who else is going to be as familiar with your furry friend than a postal carrier. Mail carriers get handed photos of animals from owners to help search all the time.
Keep your dog happy and close to home with some awesome high tech toys or get inspired to create the best dog-gone dog house your pet will never want to leave.
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Ants, Wasps, Other Pests in a Mailbox
From 72058: The Many Mini Adventures of a Small Town Mailman by Jesse Lee Hatfield. Ants flock to mailboxes after heavy rains for higher ground and wasps find their way to mailboxes all the time.
Get rid of wasps and make a mail carrier’s life a little easier and discover other ways to bite back against bugs.
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Critters
One postal carrier recalled an incident where they encountered a skunk at a home with many outdoor cats. Postal carriers routinely have to dodge squirrels in their trucks as well.
See how to get rid of those pests.
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Changing Times
Mail carriers can track the ebb of flow of the economy through their route by the volume of mail and the appearance of the neighborhoods. A postal carrier knows each business that has closed.
If you’ve seen the changes in your neighborhood, find out if it’s the right time to move.
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Getting Asked for Help
Postal workers are often in the right place at the right time for people trying to get things done around the house like holding a ladder or handing someone a tool.
Next time, just tell them how to do DIY work on their own.
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Drugs
It’s been an open secret for some time but the USPS has seen drug dealers use it to ship drugs across the country. Former Attorney General Eric Holder addressed it in 2014, calling it “shocking” the number of people using the USPS to send illegal drugs. The USPS Inspection Service made 1,760 arrests in 2012, which increased 33 percent from the previous year. The USPIS has ramped up efforts to curb drug dealers by bringing on more investigative analysts and intelligence specialists.
Make sure you dispose of expired prescription drugs properly.
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Letters from Prison
Those letters from prison have to get delivered by someone. You probably haven’t come across one but it’s a piece of mail postal workers come across frequently.
Check out some easy ways to keep your house safe.
