# How to use the drive-thru mailbox **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418 "2006-01-31T22:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![liberty3701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@liberty3701](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liberty3701)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/21 "2006-02-01T00:56:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > You live in Los Angeles, and you are going to Encino to make love to a model from Ohio for cash. Whose real name you don’t know… * * * Oh, and for god’s sake, don’t _park_ in front of the mail box while you go inside the post office. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/22 "2006-02-01T01:34:39Z")
I’m not surprised to hear that people seem mystified when confronted with a mail box. The last time I was inside the post office (a couple of weeks ago) I was chagrined to notice the “ **Out of Town** ” and “ **In Town** ” labels on the slots had been changed to “\< **Town’s Zip Code** \>” and “ **All Other Zip Codes** ”. :eek: Apparently people hadn’t been comprehending what constituted in town, or out of town. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/23 "2006-02-01T01:34:45Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > Heck, we have Outback Steakhouses that may not be drive-though but you can call ahead and they’ll come running out with your order when you drive up. [Assuming you live in USA, since your location says nothing] My point actually was that Outback Steakhouse is actually an American thing (They ARE NOT Australian) and IIRC, the only one is in Sydney. Ie; Sydney, in some ways, is more Americanised than the rest of Australia (To the point where they actually have an American frachise specialising in “Australian” food.) Of course, I have never actually been to Sydney, so perhaps a Sydney-ite (paging **don’t ask** ) could come inform us. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/24 "2006-02-01T02:27:47Z")
> [@liberty3701](#): > > Oh, and for god’s sake, don’t _park_ in front of the mail box while you go inside the post office. THANK YOU! This is the deadly sin perpetrated at the closest post office to me. Braid dead cretins think it’s ok to part at the curb to run into the P.O. for just a second. And they PARK IN FRONT OF THE DRIVE-BY MAILBOXES!!! Idiots. Thanks. I feel much better now. This has been bothering me for a while. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/25 "2006-02-01T02:47:32Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Unless you’re sending DVDs back to Netflix, in which case it’s 2 weeks. Those are always addressed somewhere near, but they have to go to mars are something. Nothing can possibly take THAT long. As for drive-thrus in my home (pop. 2500) We have all of the mentioned as well as a phone company and a real live, old time dairy queen (not the new “DQ”). Really it is kinda a drive up though… ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/26 "2006-02-01T04:26:46Z")
Heck, we even have drive-thru Farmer’s Markets, supermarkets, and a DMV building. You should note that these weren’t originally designed to be drive-thru, but were _converted_ by helpful octogenarians using a Buick who swear on everything holy that they were pressing on the brakes the whole time. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![piggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@piggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piggy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/27 "2006-02-01T04:31:50Z")
Until I see a drive-thru whorehouse, I remain unimpressed. Here’s another rule for drive-up postal bins: Tell your 3yo she can put the mail in the box some other day when you go inside the building cause the GUY BEHIND YOU’S GOTTA GET TO WORK SOMETIME THIS FLIPPIN’ WEEK! ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/28 "2006-02-01T05:27:39Z")
We have a series of drive-thru mailboxes at our local post office. Last weekend, when I attempted to drop a Netflix return into one of them, I discovered why they have _five_ mailboxes (not counting the Express mail drop). All but one of them was so full that the next Joe in line could have simply picked up my Netflix envelope and owned his own copy of _Batman Returns_–at MY expense! This was on Sunday afternoon, with no mail pickup for the boxes scheduled over the weekend We also have a mailbox that _looks like_ a drive up box at our local grocery store. It is conveniently positioned so that a passenger should be able to drop something into the box without leaving the car. WRONG!!! There is no chute pointing toward the drive, so you actually have to get out of the car and walk around the mailbox to put something in it. Since the mailbox is on the right side of a drive that has a non-driveable median, why not just move the box to the median so that the drive can drop off stuff alone, without the need for a passenger (who inevitably asks silly questions about the mail she is asked to put in the box.) ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/29 "2006-02-01T05:43:17Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Drive through mailboxes. Nope. > Drive through fast food. Check. > Drive through coffee shops. Check. > Drive through pharmacies. Nope. > Drive through dry cleaners. Nope. > Drive through liquor stores. Nope. > Drive through veterinarians. Nope. > Drive through banks - check. > > That’s about it for OUR drive-through experience. In my part of our fair country they have at least one Drive through BEER store, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/30 "2006-02-01T08:35:16Z")
My local drive through mail center has one mailbox specifically for Neftlix envelopes. It’s written in big white letters, and it’s kind of hard to miss. I see people all the time dropping ordinary mail in the Netflix box. I don’t know why this should bother me so much, but it does. I feel like the post office has set aside a special box just for me, and people are polluting it with their mundane, non-Netflix mail. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/31 "2006-02-01T08:53:55Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#): > > Drive through mailboxes ? Is there anything you don’t have drive-through over there? That was exactly what I was thinking. God forbid that the American citizen be wrenched away from his car! ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/32 "2006-02-01T09:33:38Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Unless you’re sending DVDs back to Netflix, in which case it’s 2 weeks. Not if you live in the Bay Area. They fear our geeky wrath if our anime DVDs take too long, and they know we don’t have far to drive. Well, we might get stuck in traffic. > [@](#): > > …tell your daughter you’re disowning her and will have nothing to do with that long-haired liberal freak she’s marrying. We’re quite happy together, thanks. > [@Mangetout](#): > > God forbid that the American citizen be wrenched away from his car! If God had meant for us to walk everywhere, he wouldn’t have given us drive-thru _everything_. This is of course why we had our little revolution 230 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/33 "2006-02-01T09:47:38Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > If God had meant for us to walk everywhere, he wouldn’t have given us drive-thru _everything_. This is of course why we had our little revolution 230 years ago. Once you have become a species of rotund, legless repletes, we will simply wait until the oil runs out, and return to crush you! ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/34 "2006-02-01T10:12:00Z")
Interesting that someone who threatens armed violence, or at least expressing displeasure by blowing the horn, feels justified in calling others “morons”. If your late for work, perhaps you should have avoided the drive through postal box, or at least planned ahead? If your time is really as valuable as you seem to think, why are you using snail mail in the first place, there are many electronic alternatives? If you get stressed that easily you might want to visit your doctor for a checkup, eventually it’s going to cause you health problems and very likely shorten your life. In that event you will have your final revenge, as traffic comes to a respectful standstill allowing your funeral procession the right of way. Good luck enjoying what’s left of your life. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/35 "2006-02-01T12:22:44Z")
> [@A.R. Cane](#): > > Interesting that someone who threatens armed violence, or at least expressing displeasure by blowing the horn, feels justified in calling others “morons”. > If your late for work, perhaps you should have avoided the drive through postal box, or at least planned ahead? It’s not about being late for anything. There are just better things in life I could be doing than waiting for your sorry ass to move out of the mailbox driveway. (Why do idiots always feel they deserve some sense of entitlement?) On most days I can get by with just grumbling under my breath, but when three cars in a row TAKE FOR FREAKIN’ EVER even before YOU in the puke green T-Bird gets stymied because there’s no place to enter your PIN number… Oh, and while I’ve got your attention? That’s a YIELD sign at the bottom of the freeway offramp leading to the post office. DO NOT STOP. (Off topic but similar to the discussion.) > [@](#): > > If your time is really as valuable as you seem to think, why are you using snail mail in the first place, there are many electronic alternatives? Because Netflix envelopes don’t fit in my apartment’s mail slot, so I have to use a street box. It fucking sucks, but whadaya gonna do? As for digital alternatives, I guess you’re recommending that I download movies illegally? Tried that, but it takes too long. > [@](#): > > If you get stressed that easily you might want to visit your doctor for a checkup, eventually it’s going to cause you health problems and very likely shorten your life. Heh…every time someone warns me about “shortening my life”, I tell 'em, “Like I’d be so lucky.” At least I wouldn’t have to put up with idiots…or, worse, people who defend the rights of idiots. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/36 "2006-02-01T12:38:16Z")
Good grief…does it seriously take 2 weeks for your Netflix turn-around? I’ve _never_ had it take more than 3 days here in the year and a half we’ve been members, and I usually have new movies on the way (according to the website shipping status) within 2 days of me mailing the old ones out. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/37 "2006-02-01T15:21:00Z")
Does the Drive Thru concept work anywhere? The driver is either slow/ignorant as dirt, or the attendant sucks. Okay, so in the case of the post office, it is usually the driver. I have given up on all drive thrus. Skimming through my business mag yesterday, I saw that McDonald’s is now outsourcing its drive thru tellers. Seems like the pathetic ability of the drive thru tellers causes people to complain frequently to McDees. So, starting in the NW USA, when you order at a McDees drive thru, you won’t now where the drive thru clerk is really at – they could be anywhere in the world. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/38 "2006-02-01T17:58:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That was exactly what I was thinking. God forbid that the American citizen be wrenched away from his car! I have a two year old. It’s a pain in the rear to take her in and out of the carseat to walk inside the post office just to drop a single bill in a slot that only gets checked twice a day anyway. Makes sense to me to make a drive through box. ::shrug:: ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/39 "2006-02-01T18:16:51Z")
> [@Cerri](#): > > Good grief…does it seriously take 2 weeks for your Netflix turn-around? This is what we in the creative writing business call “hyperbole.” 😉 Netflix used to have a 2-day turnaround for me – however, after several months they decided I was too loyal a customer to waste such splendid service on. Suddenly the mailing time jumped from 24 hours to 2-3 days (each way) AND they started waiting a day before sending out the next DVD. So in practice, I’ve basically got a 7 to 10 day turnaround now. But that’s fodder for another rant… > [@Philster](#): > > I saw that McDonald’s is now outsourcing its drive thru tellers. Seems like the pathetic ability of the drive thru tellers causes people to complain frequently to McDees. So, starting in the NW USA, when you order at a McDees drive thru, you won’t now where the drive thru clerk is really at – they could be anywhere in the world. OH DEAR GOD NO THEY DIDN’T…cripes!! Just when I learned enough Spanish to get through the McD’s drive thru efficiently, now I gotta learn Hindi as well! Is there NO END to the madness??? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418/40 "2006-02-01T18:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou Drive through veterinarians. Nope.[/quote] Say what? I’ve never heard of such a thing. What are you supposed to do-- toss the dog through the window? (If it’s just for pick up of prescriptions, I can understand that.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-use-the-drive-thru-mailbox/342418.md?page=3)