Do people do this?

OK, i am not looking for congrats, or anyone to tell me how great I am.....merely a question.

I was in the Post Office a wile ago, buying stamps. Some girl came in, with 2 little kids and asked about her mail, asked if she could ONLY get her CS check... They told her she had to pay for her PO box before she could get it, since she was late paying. She walked out cryig, and I heard her tell the kid something about getting something( Bayley said food) on Thursday, when she got paid.
I thought about it for a minute, and told the Post office worker that I wanted to pay 6 mos on the girls box....you can only pay 6 mos or a year. It is like $14.
They honestly looked at me like I had grown 3 new heads in front of them . I called the girl back in, handed the PO worker the money, and left.....but everyone was loking at me like I was nuts on the way out. $14 is not going to make or break me, but that girls CS check was in that box....

That was so nice of you! I think I would have done the same thing in your position. I can afford $14, but to someone else that's 3 bags of milk their family wouldn't get. It seems backwards to me that she had a cheque sitting there waiting in the box, but she couldn't get at it until she came up with the money to pay for the box.

I know you didn't want this,but I'm so proud of you Erin! I would have done the same if I knew they couldn't eat or something.By the way ,what's a CS check?

Yes, they do it, but not nearly often enough. Too many people just don't want to "get involved".

Rebecca - love you Canadians and your bags of milk.

lol LORI.....was thinking,if they can't afford the po box why not send the mail to their home?it's a bit odd,I can understand security,but if you cant afford it?

Lori wrote:Yes, they do it, but not nearly often enough. Too many people just don't want to "get involved".

Rebecca - love you Canadians and your bags of milk.

I didn't realize you don't have bags of milk down there -- you must just have jugs for the 4 litre (or whatever the imperial unit is!) size then?

Half gallons in jugs or cartons, and gallons are in jugs. I've bought the bags in Canada, though, and remember my parents buying them when we were vacationing there when we were young.

what kind of bag? Thick plastic I assume.Don't they blow leaks easily?

I would love to have milk in a bag

CS= Child Support

ohhhhhhhh child support,thanks

I'm visualizing milk in a box, like wine in a box... plastic liner in cardboard with a twist spout!

Erin, you are a good person, and I'm sure that young mom was overwhelmed....

And yeah, why couldn't she have the mail delivered to her house? Oh wait, maybe she doesn't have a house or apartment... that would be horribly sad.

The milk comes in a bag with three smaller bags inside. You put the smaller bag into the holder and cut the corner off the top. I can see I'm going to have to take a picture of my milk later on...

I doubt that Dee ,there's always public housing

There are alot of rural people here, and since the Post office is in town alot of them get mail there, or she may live with someone else and need a PO...I don';t know

That was exactly what I needed to hear tonight. Thank you Erin, for being a good person.

Sometimes you can't get government assistance without a permanent mailing address. If remember there was a big to-do over it several years ago because homeless people couldn't get assistance since they didn't have addresses. No food stamps or housing assistance or medical cards or anything unless they can document you're the jane doe who lives on main street not the jane doe on maple drive. They were supposed to fix that, but I'm not sure they did.

I've done similar things but it's rare these days. I'm glad you were there for her.

And I so want to see a bag of milk.

I've done things like that on occasion, when I can. Sometimes I've known people that really needed something but were too proud to take it. I would always come up with some reason that I might need their help for something and then tell them I felt like I had to give them something for their help. Or something would mysteriously show up on their doorstep, or a few dollars in an envelope in their mailbox..I've had people do things for me a few times too, mostly back when things were super tough and the kids were little. One year a Christmas tree mysteriously appeared on my porch (a boxed artificial one which I got many years use out of). Another year, the "Easter Bunny" left two beautifully decorated boxes with easter candy and stuff for the kids when I didn't have anything for them. Whoever it was never revealed themselves..
Sometimes that small kindness means so much ..especially at a time when things are so hard...

Okay first of all, I have to see a bag of milk- Ours comes in a jug- a milk jug, sometimes orange juice comes in one simmular, but milk is the only thing that comes in a jug like that. Oh now there is a tea company that does it.

It used to come in pint glass bottles. that was in the day of the milk man- he would take your old empty bottles and leave however many you needed.

and Erin, its the small things like that that absolutely make someones life just a little easier, even if it didnt do much for you, other than make you feel a little good- Its one of those things that will come back to you ten fold.

and if she lives with mom and dad, some are not the best people in the world, they might want the check- same with boyfriend, friends etc.

OR if she lives in public housing, or a shitty neighborhood, its the only safe place to get mail. There are lots of reasons to have PO box- Heck, there are lots of unscrupolous postal workers..

Erin you are awesome! Even if your milk does come in a bag! Haha.. I remember living in Germany and was astounded that they had milk in a box that was shelf stable..