52 Weeks of Neighboring - 11/26

Neighboring Tip of the Week – Visit with your mail carrier - offer them a word of thanks and maybe learn something about them.

Are you still feeling a bit stuffed from too much good food last week? Everyone at Neighboring Movement hopes you and the rest of your table had a joyous Thanksgiving!

As this tip comes on the last day of Thanksgiving weekend, we are getting ready to transition into a new holiday season. We know, you may not want us to say it yet, but we really just can’t resist…Christmas! As we begin to transition into this Christmas season, Neighboring Movement is thinking about a certain group of people in particular: postal workers! In the same way as trash collectors, we think postal workers are underappreciated. It is all too easy to take mail delivery for granted. Have you ever thought about what postal workers experience during this holiday season? Greater volume of cards, packages and flyers; less daylight and colder days; plus anxious and stressed out customers. This all being said, we think it’s pretty easy to see how postal workers may become overwhelmed throughout this very busy time of year.

This is what we propose: Visit with your mail carrier - offer them a word of thanks and maybe learn something about them. This, like meeting your trash collector, will probably involve waiting for your mail carrier to roll up, but exercising this patience can only show your appreciation for them and their service. The main goal we propose here is the visiting. Similar to your trash collector, your mail carrier is on a schedule, so do your best not to hold them up. Maybe your conversation will simply look like “Hello! Thank you for your service to the community!” or maybe it will contain much more. Learning names is always a meaningful practice, as well, but feel free, as always, to experiment with this! Such a simple action, or any similar one, displays both your care and appreciation for them.

Happy neighboring!