It happened to me once, and is a great story behind…
Because I used to live in a city that was very very close to another city. In fact, I just needed to cross the avenue I lived, and I was already in the other city.
So, my address existed both sides of the same avenue, but with a different city name (and I suppose a different postal code too).
However, one day a woman called by the interphone to my door and she asked for me, using my name. And she told me she had a postcard addressed to me and she apologized because looks like it have been quite some time on her mailbox and she didn’t visited the apartment in several months.
I don’t know the story behind why her apartment was empty so many months (the postcard’s date was from at least 6 months earlier) but I was so grateful to get the postcard. I can remember it as if it was yesterday, even if it was 8 years ago. It was a Hello Kitty postcard sent from Japan.
years ago I had a regular mail carrier who I really liked…sometimes I’d see her looking at my postcards. Of course i didn’t mind at all since they travel naked and are visible to anyone
Had a chat with my mailwoman today- she said, she has just one other “postcard person” in her district. I told her, that I know about him, because she put one of his cards in my box one day, and I delivered it myself
As I told her, there a quite a few post people at postcrossing (at least here at the forum), she said, she could really imagine it, as delivering postcards is what every post-person likes most. She loves to look at my postcards and stamps, she said😂
And, surprisingly, I get a lot of uncancelled cards, both from Germany and abroad. Never ever with ugly handcancelling by her (think she officially would have to, if she sees it…)
Maybe another mail delivery woman will join us here soon!
Last Friday my mailman delivered my stamp order by registered mail, plus two postcards.
He said “You are the one who always puts the beautiful cards in the mailbox!”. Ugh, secret’s out
And then he kindly advised me to not put them in the mailbox when it’s rainy as the is not waterproof and it would be such a pity. Plus I got to know that he is also emptying it.
On Monday it was raining and I was already prepared to drive to the postoffice during lunchbreak, when the bell rang (mailman’s car parked outside). I ran outside, mail in my hand - and after asking nicely he took it (and I got the small parcel delivery he actually rang for).Yay
for my mailman
…now I just have to find a waterproof mailbox for rainy days or check the weather report before writing postcards
I’ve always wondered what my postman thought of all the postcards I send and receive, and today I finally got an answer! It made my day
I’ve been living in the same apartment for close to three years now, and have done Postcrossing for about a year. There are a few different people who deliver our mail, one of whom is an older gentleman I have met early on when he gave us our mailbox keys. I have occasionally chatted with him at the mailbox (which services many different people), but I don’t think he ever made the connection between me and the “girl who receives a bunch of mail”.
Well today I received a package and he was the one delivering it. He made the connection and asked about the postcards! I told him about Postcrossing and he told me he really enjoyed seeing all the stamps from all over the world. It was a sweet conversation and I was so excited to share it with you all
I used to talk with my old mail carrier. He always joked around with me. He had told me that the folks at the post office and he really enjoyed all the postcards I would get. Yes, they would sometimes read the messages LOL. With the old folks at the PO, I was extremely notorious for getting mail from other countries. I’m the only Postcrosser in my city. Now I guess his route changed, I never interacted with the new person. Even at the PO, the folks are all different. I miss them a lot!
Most emotional moment is when he hugged me after learning that I graduated. He was telling me that he has seen me grow up. He knows how much I have been through in my life. He’s the only person who hugged me upon learning about my hard earned degree. I had a gift for my mail carrier which I told him I would give when he retires (in 4 more years). He was really curious about what it is. I hope I get to give it to him!
Cool stories in this thread! Thank you all for sharing. Many things are similar here too.
I think post office workers are happy to see postcards getting sent and received. In their area, there is usually only one postcrosser. Everything is online, but hey suddenly they see someone still uses their old postcard service.
When I mention postcards to some people, they are surprised that they still exist. Then they are always happy to hear that postcards still work. I just got one arrive in Australia and that is a miracle. A piece of paper flew alone with no package, nothing, and reached a house on the other end of the world. Miracle.
Post carriers they appreciate that miracle too.
I send and receive at school.
The mailbox of my school is set up for students to write to friends in other schools or to family. So almost everyone just use it to send to (or receive from)people who also lives in my city. Sometimes there will be some travel cards from their friends in other places.
But there is at least 3 postcrossers in my school. It is easy to understand. In my opinion, most of postcrossers from China are students. (Maybe it’s because that we are more excited to communicate with people abroad and have more time to write🤪. In fact, there is little other people in China still using the POST system.)
I don’t know them really. But the mail carrier (In fact, she is a worker of my school. The mailman from the Post Office can’t enter the school from time to time, so he(or they) always just give the mails to her, with the magazines and newspapers my school ordered.) She usually put all of the “Postcards With Foreign Letters on the Back” together and tie them with a elastic band.
So I’ve done things like this: I go to the mailbox to look for my postcards among many letters and cards, and find a bunch of cards tied up by an elastic band. Then I take all of them to my classroom, read them, and realize that there are some cards to another person. So I go back to the mailbox and put them back.
In fact, there are still some elder people in my country conservative about receiving mails from other countries.
Our former postie retired and so of course there was a new one. He came up the driveway one day to deliver a parcel and saw the old Peugeot 504 in the garage, and asked my father what was happening with the car.
“Ah, well,” said my father, “I was going to restore it but I haven’t been well enough”
“Do you want to sell it?” said the postie.
So that’s how our postie delivered a parcel and went home owning a car. He’s got it almost running properly now, only a few weeks later, and is going to bring it back to show us which will be fun.
Now I live in a large city and have several different mail carriers such that I don’t see any one on a regular basis.
Before this I lived in a tiny village of about 450 people and our postmaster there was always quite interested in the mail I sent. There wasn’t much mail volume there period and most of it was business mail like from the local bank etc. or people paying bills. When I was younger I had many penpals from other countries (this was very much pre-internet) and I remember fondly many visits to the post office to purchase the correct stamps and the discussions about the countries far away. And later when I joined postcrossing he was always interested to see where I was sending and getting cards as well.
My name is pretty famous in my post office because I am the only person who receives postcards from around the world constantly for many years.
There was a very important document that was sent to me with the wrongly typed street address. Luckily the postman recognised my name. So, he sent the letter to me. His action actually changed my life and I can’t imagine what would have happened if he sent it to the wrong address.
I actually never spoken to my mail person. I have never had a consistent person either. When I moved in, i remember seeing a lady deliever the mail and never again. During the pandemic, it was a skinny guy who wore an American flag bandana over his face. The closest interaction i ever had with him was handing him a letter. He was about my height. 5’10" 178 cm. He had a beard. I knew because one time when he was far away, he took off the bandana. Then in 2021, he was replaced by another guy. This guy was short, maybe 5’7". He was young. He had muscles and had a big butt. Lol. I know. That and the fact that he had a giant rose (not colored) tattooed on his neck were two features that stood out about him. I also handed him a letter and several postcards. As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.
By 2022, we had a series of random and different carriers a day with whom I had no interaction with. Many of them coming at different times. The majority of carriers do not have a specific time to arrive. They pretty much have a window of when to arrive which is anywhere from 1pm to 4pm, in my area. The last time I saw a carrier was Thursday July 28 2022. I saw the mail truck on the corner and a not quite young but also not quite middle aged black woman with braids putting mail in the boxes. Ate you a mail person in San Diego reading this? Will you ever get North Park, San Diego as a zone? Will you be my next mail person? Time will tell.
I dont know if this counts, but when I would go to the coffeehouse to sit and write letters and post cards, I noticed the same mailman arrive all the time at 1pm. So the only interaction I had was handing finished mail to him. The only thing I remembered about him was he wore a giant straw hat to keep out the sun.
However, I have a somewhat consistent mail person at the post office. A clerk named Nina, but oddly enough, when i first met her, she had a name tag named Rene.
Since joining postcrossing and play on tags I get a lot of card. My mailman used to send me just 2 or 3 envelopes when I was still doing penpal. Now he’s delivering me 5 and sometime even 20 cards more frequently, it made him ask how many sack of postcards I have now as a hoarder
(It’s just a banter)
I’m not even an old member , so I wonder what he will say after years later
Growing up, we had the same mail carrier for quite a few years. He would always say, “oh hello young miss (my last name),” as a greeting, and would have lollipops and other candy for us kids. At some point he was assigned to another route, but I ran into him years later and he recognized me and remembered my name. There is now a mural in his memory (he passed away a few years ago) not too far from where I grew up.
so interesting and heartwarming to read these stories about people’s mail carriers and postal workers!
unfortunately, i found out today that both my favourite post office clerk and regular carrier are moving on to different routes/locations soon; so i thought i might share some stories (this post has been sitting in my drafts forever!):
my regular mail carrier has flown under the radar ever since i moved to my current place because mail is typically delivered during my working hours. but the pandemic happened and i was home a lot more as i started working remotely - one day i came back from getting a coffee and ran into my carrier. i stopped him to ask a small question about a vacation hold and he asked me what unit i was and i told him. he goes “you have a lot of friends - you get all the postcards and envelopes, right?!” me: “” turns out i stick out like a sore thumb on his route lol so now we are very friendly and if i run into him, we chat for a bit before he moves to the next adress. i tell him about my life, work and postcrossing and he tells me about his kids and family or teases me when i dont get any mail that day also my carrier is very consistent so (without fail) will arrive within a 10 min window of when he delivered the previous day! it is so scarily consistent i can always tell when someone is subbing on his route haha
today my regular knocked on my door to let me know that his last day on this route will be next friday. omg i am still so sad about this; i am going to miss him alot i was thinking of getting him something to say thanks for going above and beyond for me but i haven’t figured it out yet…stay tuned?
special shoutouts to my favourite local post office clerks - i usually will pass my postcards over the counter so i can ask what stamps are in stock. sometimes they will say what they have on hand before i can ask or before i even get in line lol sometimes i will send them postcards when i am on vacation too!
i once walked into the post office that i usually dont go to and asked the clerk if i could buy a sheet of non-machinable stamps (usually used for the square envelopes but i like using them in combination as part of postage for international postcards). the clerk says “i can tell that this isn’t your first time asking because nobody else knows that these stamps exist” me: “”
is not waterproof and it would be such a pity. Plus I got to know that he is also emptying it.
for my mailman
, so I wonder what he will say after years later
” turns out i stick out like a sore thumb on his route lol so now we are very friendly and if i run into him, we chat for a bit before he moves to the next adress. i tell him about my life, work and postcrossing and he tells me about his kids and family or teases me when i dont get any mail that day 
also my carrier is very consistent so (without fail) will arrive within a 10 min window of when he delivered the previous day! it is so scarily consistent i can always tell when someone is subbing on his route haha
i was thinking of getting him something to say thanks for going above and beyond for me but i haven’t figured it out yet…stay tuned?
sometimes i will send them postcards when i am on vacation too!