In our family it is generally my husband who gets the mail. It’s an activity he is highly motivated to do. When my daughter was younger she enjoyed going through the mail and sorting it: this is for Mom, this is for Dad, this goes in the recycling, and so on. Every so often she would get something herself. But usually she just kept the fun catalogues to browse through.
We live in Columbia, so we have those shared mailboxes. I’ve read that they were done this way to encourage interactions between neighbors. Alternatively, I’ve read that’s just a coverup, that it was just easier/cheaper to do it that way. Here’s the thing: I’ve now lived here twenty years and I’m not sure I’ve ever even bumped into a neighbor while getting the mail. Have you?
Of course, as I have already said, it’s my husband who does most of the mail getting, so perhaps I should really ask him. I just wonder how useful the shared mailbox concept is in fostering conversation. Probably the most interaction between neighbors I have ever seen was after a big snow when folks were digging their cars out.
And then there’s this: how much mail do you actually get these days? I imagine a sample “haul” from the 1970’s would look very different than one from today. Birthday cards, personal letters, business letter, bills, postcards, the Sears Christmas catalogue “Wish Book”...(sorry, couldn’t resist.) Rouse foresaw quite a bit and was clearly a forward thinker but was the possibility of the Internet on his mind? I’m guessing no.
In a hundred years will they remain, like monuments to forgotten wars, largely ignored and completely unused?
I would love to hear your stories of the Columbia shared mailbox experience. Love them? Hate them? Meet someone special while picking up your mail? Forge valuable friendships?
Consider this an official call for submissions. If I get enough I’ll share them in a follow-up post.
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