A post post

Last time I was complaining that sometimes the post office is closed unexpectedly because of some federal holiday or other that Mrs Walles and I do not mark (not that we wouldn't be keen to mark said holidays, of course, its just that not everyone gets them off).

Now I'm going to balance things out by extolling the virtues of something that all Americans take for granted, but that to me is like magic.  In America if you put outgoing mail in your mailbox, the mail man will take it away for you, with no fuss.  You can have all your gilt bathrooms and antique ivory back scratchers: as far as I'm concerned this is the epitome of luxury.


I was vaguely aware of this before I came here.  Movies had taught me that in the US mailboxes had a little red flag on the side that had something to do with sending mail.  As a child I was deprived in the mailbox department because we had a post office box instead.  But things have changed.  Now I have one of those fancy American mail boxes (approved by the Postmaster General himself, no less!) complete with the little red flag.  Mrs Walles and I spruced ours up last year with a fresh coat of paint.  I was going to put up a photo but when I found this almost identical one on Wikipedia I decided I could save myself the trouble.

Ironically the red flag isn't necessary.  You just put the mail you want to send inside in the morning and later that day you find it gone, typically replaced with screeds of glossy catalogues and fliers and the occasional bill.  Every time I do it I'm tempted to put the little flag up, just to get into the spirit of the thing, but then I think twice and realise that the flag would be a signal not just to the mail man but also to any nefarious characters who wonder if any of our correspondence is worth pilfering.

At least it's still there, though, the cherry little flag, just like in the movies.  Even if its duties are only ceremonial, it is nice reminder of where I am (well, that and the enormous flag the neighbours have over their door).  And flag or no flag I can still send mail without setting foot off the property.  Can you?