‘So sweet!’ In a world of porch pirates, this FedEx guy saves Christmas

Doorbell cameras are everywhere now, and across the country, the devices catch porch pirates in the act.

One recently shared viral video, though, shows the opposite: A FedEx driver going out of his way to make sure the customer’s packages, some delivered by a different carrier, don’t get stolen.

If they were left where they were laid, it might have just ruined Christmas. But as is often the case, the internet thinks something else might be going on behind the scenes.

“Such a small gesture but so sweet”

As the door cam footage shows, the young FedEx driver approaches the porch with just one small package, but there are several other packages already there. Rather than toss his on the pile, the driver takes his time, arranging the packages so they’re tucked out of view.

As one comment noted, “Such a small gesture but so sweet! The organizing also probably helps the items not getting stolen as they are now pushed up against the wall more and not in plain sight.”

And as Christmas approached, he also helped make sure that what might have been presents weren’t damaged. A sarcastic note added after watching the clip, “As a porch pirate, gahhh foiled again!!”

Could he get in trouble?

The internet being what it is, though, some comments speculated that the thoughtful driver could get in trouble. “You can actually get canned if you get caught doing this for the carriers that pay hourly. They classify it as stealing time and it can be a fireable offense.”

The comment calls the video”a cool gesture,” but adds that similar videos are often for promotion, particularly from Amazon drivers. “This one seems genuine,” it says, “because he gets paid by the day and not the hour, and he doesn’t talk to the camera.”

Or is he just saving his own skin?

Holiday goodwill aside, there’s another potential possibility. As one comment said, “Hate to be that guy but I worked delivery for UPS and during my first week on my own I had a house that had numerous packages every day.”

The former UPS driver added, “I would always set the one I was delivering still in a safe space, not just wherever.” Still, he said one of his customers complained to management, “because packages from one of the other companies were set on one of her porch plants.”

He said he got in trouble when it wasn’t his fault, and after that, he always organized other drivers’ deliveries, “not because I was trying to be nice,” but because he could lose his job.

It added, “That extra fifteen seconds he used to organize them could have also gotten him in trouble because if you have to do that at every house on your route,” then those fifteen seconds add up at the end of the day, “causing management to get on you for taking too long.”

Regardless of why the driver did what he did, ” … be kind to your delivery drivers,” the comment said. “The vast majority of them are working their a—s off 60 hours a week and receiving hardly any recognition. It’s not an easy job.”