Absurdities is a recurring series in which I vent about things I find absurd. It could be called Annoyances, but I try to keep it more light-hearted than outright complaining.
Drive up mailboxes were a good ideas. It provided an easy way to drop off your mail with minimal effort.
Fast forward to more recent times, with mailbox bombs and threats etc., I don't even know why anyone uses drive up or any mailbox. There is also the decline in actual mail lessening the need for any mailboxes.
All that aside, my real problem is ill-prepared people using drive up mailboxes and taking way too long. The point of the drive up mailbox is easy and speed. Most of the time, the situation playes out as a car pulls up to the mailbox. Sometimes the driver puts it in park, which is highly recommended, but I have seen many just braking and then the car starts rolling as they fumble around putting the mail in the slot. Then they must back up.
The real problem though is people parking there and then getting the mail ready. This may take several minutes. The drive up mailbox is not the place to apply a stamp, seal the envelope or any such activity. You should have the mail ready when you pull up to the mailbox. Then it is simply a matter of extending an arm, dropping it in and moving along. That should take about a minute.
Of course, those fumblers are the same people who pull up to a fast food drie through and stare at the menu as if they have never seen it. Just be prepared and make these such lines move smoothly.
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