23 Things Every Mail Carrier Wants You To Know

Six out of the seven days of the week, your mail carrier trudges through rain, sleet, snow, and even dog slobber to deliver your birthday cards, magazines, bills, and more. But what else do you get from them? A polite smile? A conversation about the weather? One has to wonder what's going through their mind as they make their way around the neighborhood each day. Well, wonder no longer. Here's everything your mail carrier wishes they could tell you.

Luckily, your mail should get where it needs to go as long as the postal code and address number are legible - but you still might want to work on your penmanship.

If a box shows up to your house in a less-than-stellar state, it’s very likely that it was that way when the mail carrier received it from the original shipper.

While it's not officially recognized, mail carriers take this unofficial creed to heart: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

With all of the costumed children causing traffic jams on the sidewalks, not to mention all of the mischief, delivering the mail on Halloween is more trick than treat.

If you want to put an end to the madness, you'll have to contact the offending companies themselves.

And not just for those credit card companies that flood your mailbox. When you're targeted with unsolicited fliers, catalogs and beyond, that means more business for the Postal Service. Sorry, trees.

Technically, the inside of a mailbox is property of the United States Postal Service. So if it doesn't have a stamp, it doesn't belong there. Even if you just wanted to leave something for your neighbor.

Thousands of attacks occur annually - 6,244 in 2017, to be exact - so don't be offended when a mail carrier is wary to walk by your pup. Even the friendliest dog can be territorial at times.

To protect themselves, mail carriers will use a dog repellent spray-but only when it's absolutely necessary. If an animal appears menacing, they simply won't deliver the mail to that address. The repellent, a pepper spray, is used to combat surprise attacks and doesn't do any lasting harm to the dog.

While this might seem like a nice way to keep mail carrier-canine conflict to a minimum, it could condition dogs to expect treats and be even more aggressive towards strangers who don't give them one.

Like, really far. One mail carrier estimates that they cover an average of ten miles on foot each day.

Or, at least, handle better than you might expect for a big, boxy automobile.

A mail carrier can remove anything without a stamp on it from your mailbox and even bill you for due postage.

To add to the physically grueling nature of the job, many of the trucks do not have air conditioning.

If you wont be home for an extended period of time, please put your mail delivery on hold. Not only will it make your mail carrier's life a lot easier, it'll keep your home or apartment from looking like you've been out of town for a while.

It doesn't matter if it's your car or recycling bin - obscuring the path to your mailbox will result in your mail not being delivered.

You're not just imagining it.

With so many stops to make, they can't spend valuable time making conversation-even if you offer them coffee, tea, or ice cream.

Yeah, they're working while you're relaxing, but it's a relatively easy day since there's less mail to deliver.

It's not part of a conspiracy or anything. Managers keep tabs on their mail carriers thanks to GPS tracker on the scanners they use for deliveries.

If it's the sounds of their feet against the ground or their favorite tunes, you best believe they're rocking out to the latter. In a professional manner, of course.

From sledge hammers to live animals, if it can fit in an Postal Service-approved package, they'll get it where it needs to go.

But if it's over $25 in value, they'll have to report it to management.