Those of us in the pack and ship world have to get creative with packing special items sometimes. So it’s no wonder our Associated Mail & Parcel Centers (AMPC) friends let their creativity run loose and came up with a unique version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas called A Mail & Parcel Christmas.

We present it to you, our readers, as our way of wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you have fond recollections of this past year and a blessed 2014. See you next year!

A Mail & Parcel Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the shop,

Not a tape gun was stirring, not even a drop;

The boxes were placed on their shelf with care,

In hopes that the driver soon would be there;

The packers were nestled at home in their beds,

While visions of peanuts danced in their heads;

And mamma in her apron, and I in my shirt,

Had just settled down for much needed comfort,

When out in the lot there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the back to see what was the matter.

Away to the front I flew threw the store

Grabbed a tape measure and tore open the door.

The fading sun on the old parking lot

Showed no sudden customer onslaught,

So what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment in must be St. Nick.

More rapid than beamers his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, UPS! Now, FedEx! Now, DHL and Postal!

On, Speedy! On Eastern! On, LoneStar and Roadway!

To the front of the lot! To that last open store!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash to the door!

As bits of trash that before the wild winds fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the store-front the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of boxes, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard them on the sidewalk

The prancing and pawing of each of the livestock.

As I got to the counter, and put on my grin

In through the door St. Nicholas came with a spin.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his boot,

And to my wife he waved a friendly salute;

A bundle of packages he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a customer dropping his pack.

 His boxes – how they all looked brand new and not used!

He carried them all, my help he kindly refused.

Each box had a note attached like a bow,

Insisting his packages go any way but slow;

A roll of packing tape he held in his hand,

And the scraps encircled his arms like a band;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

His boxes were large and already to ship,

With no prepaid labels I gave a joyful yip;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the forms; then turned with a jerk,

Out jumped his wallet, as quick as a flash,

And giving a nod, he paid me with cash;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a quick rap,

And away they all flew with a pop like bubblewrap.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”