It was the Monday before Christmas and all through the work center, mail carriers were scrambling to sort piles of packages and crates of cards and letters.
"Just one of Santa's little helpers," said McKeithen Jones.
Jones was in too much of a rush to take a break.
"My supervisor over there, she wants me back at 6:00. So I got to make her happy. It's Christmas time," Jones said.
Christmas week is a hectic time of year for the postal workers.
"We are very busy today and the rest of the week, and we've been gearing up for this for the last several weeks," said Gulfport Postmaster Larry Delahunt.
On Monday alone, the Larkin Smith Post Office in Gulfport handled more than 63,000 pieces of mail and as many as 3,000 parcels.
"We were almost 20-percent packages more this year than what we had last year. There's always a lot of pressure, but you just try to relax and just take it one day at a time and hope the folks are going to come in and do the best job that they possibly can," said Delahunt.
"Just work a little faster, a little harder, try to concentrate a little more,” said Clay Rouse.
Rouse seemed to have the biggest pile of packages. He knows how important it is to make sure the gifts and holiday greetings reach their destinations by the Christmas deadline.
"A little boy or girl will come outside and they see you with that package and you hand it to them or whatever, and they get all excited, go running inside and go, 'Momma, momma or daddy, daddy!' It makes me feel really good," said Rouse.
And they will continue to deliver happiness to people's homes through Christmas Eve.
"It's very satisfying, especially when the 25th comes and goes, and it's over with," Delahunt said with a smile.
The postmaster in Gulfport said if you still want to send your packages on Tuesday, the only way to make sure they arrive by Christmas is to use Priority Express Mail.
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