Did you give a Christmas present to your postman/woman?
Marie-Ange is a treasure. Like all of our local postmen she goes out of her way to be helpful.
Most of our post gets put into our letter box at the end of the drive, but special things are always delivered direct into the kitchen; even if we're out. She also quizzes us for info about any foreign names she can't place (none of which we ever know).
If I'm around when she calls, she always stops for a chat, and to pass on any village news that I might have missed.
Luckily she's also a dog lover, and has become great friends with Bok (which helps).
We don't give presents to everyone, just her, the Pompiers, and our Vigneronne. As usual, Marie-Ange received a transparent box of round, gold-wrapped, chocolates (yes, those), and a bank note in with her card (for the annual Poste calendar).
She's a lovely lady; we'd really miss her if she was moved a different route, which I'm assured she won't be.
The bin men and the postman get a Christmas Box from me and this year, for a change, I was actually here when they came and so they got it personally from me instead of an envelope taped to the bin lid or on the doorstep. The oil man gets his when he delivers, usually in August, as done the log man for helping me stack the logs. They all look after me and well deserve their Christmas Box.
ReplyDeleteI remember always giving something to the bin-men too. One was afraid not to!!! I don't think the oil-man got anything, nor anyone who delivered wood.
DeleteWe have a communal bin, a short walk along the road. I only see the bin men and their "Truck from Hell" if I'm out around 6:30 in the morning when they come by to collect the rubbish.
DeleteIn the UK we always gave the bin men, milkman, and postman, a Christmas Box, but here there isn't the level of personal service.
No, we don't, because we rarely, if ever, see our postman/woman. Perhaps just occasionally as they sail past on their scooters. They don't deliver to the house, but to a bank of post boxes (called buzon), in our case, some distance away up a steep hill. This is the same for any houses out of the immediate town centre - we all have post boxes located at a central delivery point. If there is a parcel, and we're home, then it will be handed over, otherwise it's an advice note in our box, a trek into town, the hassle of parking, and standing in line to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed to read on one of your blogs recently that your post lady also picks up post "to go" too. Perhaps your system is better because you live in a very rural area?
Your postal service doesn't sound very personal. Yes, if we can't be bothered to go the 7 kms to the post office, we just put a red peg on the letter box key, and Marie-Ange picks up anything to go. Wonderful service.
DeleteYes Cro ....... I always give the postman one { Ooooo er missus !!!! } although, he hasn't had it yet because there have been a few temporary ones since Christmas. He goes that extra mile like yours and, he has a bit of a struggle with our Victorian letterbox that is the original one and sticks a bit !! Same as Rachel, bin men and postman get a Christmas box ..... is it something left over from our youth ? I'm not sure if others round here do it. XXXX
ReplyDeleteA lot of these old traditions are dying out. Certainly new-comers to the UK wouldn't leave them anything; maybe this is why the UK postmen/women tend to be a bit grumpy these days. They probably relied of a good wad of cash to supplement their incomes.
DeleteWe never do or did it here, you gave me an idea, i shall do it for our new year.
ReplyDeleteIt keeps them friendly.
DeleteThe firemen give a receipt when they come with the calendar and I suppose that is a collective donation. Our usual postlady gets the money -we don't take the calendar- and I wonder if the 'team' share it all. If all give €5-€10 that's a good Xmas box.
ReplyDeleteWe never get any receipts, and frankly I wouldn't want any. I've no idea if the money is shared; I've always thought that they each buy their calendars, then hope to make a profit. I always give her €20. Maybe that's too much.
DeleteI'm still waiting for Royal Mail to compensate me for insured damage and loss to the tune of about £150 before I give any of them a present.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I love the idea of becoming friends with the rural post-people.
You'd like Marie-Ange. I think she's married to a Brit, but I don't hold that against her.
DeleteOh this is lovely..like a Peter Mayle novel. We would never have anything like this down here. Pigeon carrier would be more effective than Australia Post.The nearest thing I have experienced is an old country electrician who used to bring packed sandwiches and we would have lunch together in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound as if we're very lucky. I've lived here for so long that I take such things as normal.
DeleteSeems like we have a different carrier every other week. It must be nice to have a regular and get to know them.
ReplyDeleteMany of our postmen are also farmers, and tend to deliver around where they live, which is nice.
DeleteWe give a gift to our mail lady too, even though we're told not to because she's a government employee. But she goes far beyond what you'd expect and deserves it.
ReplyDeleteI always give to Gavin our postie. Miles and Dermot our dustmen, and Stanley our oil man. Years ago I remember the coal-men amongst others knocking at the door for their Xmass box.
ReplyDeleteThe sad fact is that we never have the same postman etc. They chop and change about. Years ago we knew the milkman (a thing of the past)the postman, coalman etc and every one of their names. They all got a Christmas box then.
ReplyDeleteBrighton postmen all seemed to wear shorts.... all year.
DeleteWe don't have a postman in our town. But we give the refuse removal team (six men) cash at Christmas time. Cro, we do have four garages and these are not even enough! We only have two cars but Grant has three motor cycles in the third garage and the fourth (which is the first in the photo, next to the laundry) is his well-equipped workshop. There is a garden room to the rear of the whole block and a toilet and shower for our gardeners.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds wonderful. Our gardeners always had their own loo, but that was as far as it went.
DeleteOn the whole the words Yorkshireman and tip don;t go together in the same sentence. But I do give one to anyone who has given good service - my hairdresser, the postman, the ladies at the medical dispensary - I feel it is a good way of saying thank-you.
ReplyDeleteGood service always deserves recognition; they do their bit, and we do ours.
DeleteI recall my parents always gave the bin men, postman and milkman and probably the bread man a Christmas Box but I've never done so and although we do have a wonderful personal post service our postmen seem to rotate routes weekly so we no longer have 'our' postman. Although it's changing when I first went to New Zealand there was no culture of tipping at all. Quite the reverse of the US and it's probably the US visitors who are changing the culture there in the touristy areas anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe sure do! And instead of having to drive 15 mins to pick up our parcels at the post office, they are left on our front porch. Hooray for all the Marie-Anges of the world!
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