The Pony worked on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He sent me a text at 11:00 a.m.
"Gotta say, this is a first."
"Wow! Was that left for a relative to pick up? Or for the regular carrier? Or maybe someone dropped it off for the homeowner?"
"I have no clue, but I'm not touching it!"
"Not today, Postal Inspector!"
Let the record show that some people leave holiday bonuses for their postman. But also, Postal Inspectors allegedly plant items in random mailboxes to test the integrity of the employees. They are not supposed to pick up anything but outgoing mail. I think they are allowed to accept a gift up to $20 in value, once a year. I don't know the specifics. I haven't read the regulations. Only the discussions I see on the USPS unofficial site on Reddit. Sometimes carriers post pictures of odd things they've found in mailboxes, with the response being: "Not today, Postal Inspector!" A lot of times, it's loose $20 bills, or bags of weed.
This is the first ham I've seen in a mailbox. I think The Pony was wise to leave it!
Wow! I didn't know Postal Inspectors test the mail carriers that way. I agree with you, best that The Pony leave it in the mailbox. I think that if it was meant for him, the owner of the house should have taped a message to the ham so that The Pony would see it as soon as the mailbox was opened.
ReplyDeleteThey can't be everywhere at once, but that thought probably discourages some carriers who might be tempted! Yes, you would think the "giver" would put a note on it if that was the intention.
DeleteBetter take a picture, cause if it was a plant, and some near- (?) do-well came by later and robbed the box they would blame Pony!
ReplyDeleteThe Pony has the picture, but I guess you can't really take a picture of you not-taking something!
DeleteOuch...palm to forehead!
DeleteI'm agreeing that it's good to take a picture. The Pony would be pretty stupid to snap a picture of something he was planning to TAKE. Or would he... maybe it could be reverse psychology.
DeleteI agree, leave it alone, probably it won't get warm enough there to go bad.
ReplyDeleteWe're having temps in the 40s, and it's a cured ham. So okay for whomever it was intended.
DeleteI would be afraid to leave a perishable item in a mailbox and I would be equally afraid to eat one found in a mailbox. Then there is the postal inspector .....
ReplyDeleteThat ham is pre-cooked, vacuum-packed, and chilling at 40-something degrees. In the old days, people would hang the pig haunch in the shed and leave it to grow mold and be nibbled by rodents. So I think this one was okay...
DeleteI just pictured a farmer checking on one of his hams and seeing some mold, handing it back to the rats to clean up. I might be a bit snockered from my special ice tea, cause it is not the tylenol or ibuprofen making me giggle!
DeleteKeep chugging that special ice tea until you get your tooth taken care of! You made me think of John Candy in "Uncle Buck," when he tossed a quarter at his niece's teacher and said, "Here's a quarter. Go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face." In reference to a big mole.
Delete