The other week my neighbour asked me if she could borrow my box. Since they don't play cricket around here, I knew she wasn't after my groin protector. But what then?
As it turns out, she wanted to put some letters in my mailbox. You see, one of the really clever things about (suburban) letterboxes is that they double up as postboxes. In other words, they aren't simply receptacles for incoming letters, but also temporary repositories for letters that you wish to send off. You simply put your stamped letters in the mailbox, lift the little flag on the side (my favourite bit) and the mailman picks them up when he next comes past.
Hey presto, another reason not to walk anywhere!
Another interesting aspect of this procedure is what we in Britain would call the post van. Over here, posties - who are referred to in the US as "postal workers" - drive around in dinky square little contraptions called Grumman Long Life Vehicles.
But get this: because it would be too much to expect United States Postal Service employees to get out of their cars and walk to their clients' mailboxes, LLVs are right-hand drive so that mailmen can merely slide open the door, reach out, pop the letters into your box in passing, so to speak, and thus - extrapolating from the name - assure themselves a longer life.
I know that America consumes a quarter of the world's energy, but perhaps the men and women of the USPS could get away with a little bit of physical exertion now and again.
Having said that, I do believe it's a well thought-out system, and the kids love checking the mailbox when they come home from school.
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