# Do you think the Post Office is right in this situation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098 "2014-09-10T18:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/1 "2014-09-10T18:25:38Z")
I was prepared to be outraged. Those lazy so and so postmen. 😃 Then I looked at the photos. 😛 Did a double take and looked again. I can easily imagine the Postman’s frustration. Especially with that railing that forces him to\* climb the steps twice for two doors that are side by side.\* Plus the mail slot is at the bottom of the door? That’s just ridiculous. How many houses on that street are like that? That’s a lot of unnecessary step climbing and bending. Try doing that a few hundred times. How did they ever get mail services to accept such an arraignment thirty to forty years ago? That should have never been acceptable. I have never seen mail slots that low before on any houses in my city. That’s just crazy dumb. IMHO Safety hazard might be a bit of a stretch. But I guess that was the rule that most closely covers the situation. > **[Low blow! Brooklyn post office won’t deliver to short mailboxes: residents](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/09/09/low-blow-brooklyn-post-office-wont-deliver-to-short-mailboxes-residents/)** > > The postman always rings twice, unless he has to bend down. The U.S. Postal Service has stopped delivering mail to some households in Borough Park, claiming the low-set mail slots they’ve bee… > [@](#): > > The U.S. Postal Service has stopped delivering mail to some households in Borough Park, claiming the low-set mail slots they’ve been using for decades are dangerous, furious residents said. > > The change has forced them into hour-long lines at the 51st St. post office to collect the crucial medicines, Social Security checks and letters that used to come right to their door. > > “Since when do guidelines change?” asked Chumy Orgel. “I’ve been living here 30 years.” > > The mailboxes are a safety hazard, according to an Aug. 21 letter sent by a postal service customer service manager to residents along 46th St. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/2 "2014-09-10T19:00:27Z")
Off-topic, but: Social Security still delivers checks? I thought they moved to direct deposit and reloadable debit cards years ago. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/3 "2014-09-10T19:10:11Z")
I love when the resident complained that the lettercarrier was not thinking of ‘us’ only himself. Um it seems like it is exactly backwards, he wants to deliver your mail if you just don’t make it a royal pain in the back for him to do so. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/4 "2014-09-10T19:22:58Z")
They were given over 2 weeks notice. If they thought that they had a legit complaint, they could have contacted postal authorities instead of bitching about it after the fact. My father was a mail man. I wouldn’t have wanted him to bend over that far to deliver their mail. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/5 "2014-09-10T19:32:11Z")
I was about to snark about how it must be so very difficult for these residents to buy a cheap wall-mounted mailbox, then I saw that at least one did do that. Now the postman was just upset about walking up the steps to get to it and still wouldn’t deliver. Well then. I’m thinking they should hire a younger man for his route and place him somewhere else. I can understand not wanting to stoop all day to deliver mail on small landings, but walking up some steps is another thing. Not everyone has a spot to mount a mailbox right there on the sidewalk (and I wouldn’t want my mailbox out there either). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/6 "2014-09-10T19:58:37Z")
I delivered mail one summer in Queens and I had to go up a lot more steps than that. In fact I find it hard to believe that such isn’t common. The slots on the bottom of the door on the other hand are just dumb. I can see them forcing the customers to change that. I never had to deal with that kind of thing. You’d have to get down on your knees to stick anything substantial in the slot, not funny if it has rained or snowed. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/7 "2014-09-10T20:22:46Z")
I think the slots were not that bad, if you’re standing a few steps down it’s not very low anyway. A mailbox on the door would be fine, I think the postman is just lazy and milking this thing for all it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/8 "2014-09-10T20:35:37Z")
The ones I disliked were those with furry slots that nipped one’s fingers. Even wrote a poem about it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/9 "2014-09-10T20:37:36Z")
What’s it like in winter, with a couple feet of snow against the doors? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/10 "2014-09-10T21:12:52Z")
I would mandate a new, higher mailslot, but still vote “Lazy Mailman”. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/11 "2014-09-10T22:28:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Off-topic, but: Social Security still delivers checks? I thought they moved to direct deposit and reloadable debit cards years ago. You have to opt in to direct deposit. Check is still the default. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/12 "2014-09-10T22:37:00Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I think the slots were not that bad, if you’re standing a few steps down it’s not very low anyway. A mailbox on the door would be fine, I think the postman is just lazy and milking this thing for all it’s worth. The slots we had on our door (at a decent height) had to be pulled open. Try that with a handful of different sized mail from a few feet away. Not going to be easy, as anyone who has ever delivered mail to this kind of house can tell you. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/13 "2014-09-11T01:02:56Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > You have to opt in to direct deposit. Check is still the default. [Electronic deposit is now mandatory as of March 1, 2013.](http://www.ssa.gov/deposit/) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/14 "2014-09-11T01:04:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > [Electronic deposit is now mandatory as of March 1, 2013.](http://www.ssa.gov/deposit/) Ah, I stand corrected! Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/15 "2014-09-11T02:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > “Since when do guidelines change?” asked Chumy Orgel. “I’ve been living here 30 years.” Guidelines constantly evolve and change as we become aware of what causes problems for workers. “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” is never a reason not to change the way something is done in and of itself. Conversely, it’s also not a reason to change things either. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/16 "2014-09-11T02:33:44Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > My father was a mail man. I wouldn’t have wanted him to bend over that far to deliver their mail. And certainly not having to bend over repeatedly for all of the special snowflakes on the route. These people shouldn’t complain too much, they might end up not getting delivery to their door any more. I haven’t had mail delivered directly to my dwelling since, um, 1994 or so. It always goes to a freakin’ set of post boxes (1 per unit, locked). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/17 "2014-09-11T05:48:27Z")
The Post Office jumped the shark here by NOT mentioning in that letter that the new boxes would have to be at street level, then after one resident installed a new box by the door, the carrier still refused to deliver. I’d be screaming about that. Furthermore, that letter from the postal manager was none too literate. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-post-office-is-right-in-this-situation/698098/18 "2014-09-11T18:52:39Z")
In our neighborhood, all of the mailboxes are across the street. Where there are no houses. The mailman doesn’t get out of his car.