Monday, March 22, 2010

quicko: no flag on the mailbox


It really didn't dawn on me until just recently that Sydney mailboxes don't have flags. What's more, you can't send mail out of them. You've got to find a red post box and deposit your letters there. Now, I've done this many, many times in Sydney -- entirely without thinking about it -- and yet the realization didn't actually hit me until today, when I had to go a whole two blocks and across a street out of my way to deposit my letter. Which, when I thought about it, was roughly the same distance I'd have to walk at home to get to my mailbox from my house. But that's beside the point entirely.

4 comments:

redhedqd said...

I think this may be typical for urban living in whole. I haven't had a flag since I lived with my parents in West Chester.

Sam said...

Gosh! I never knew that about the States mail boxes! You can post from them too - now that's an idea I'd definitely introduce should I ever become PM of Aus!

Unknown said...

Why do letter boxes need flags? Do American posties get confused as to which state/country they're in?

KIM said...

First -- Gina. Totally right. I completely forgot.

Second -- Sam. You'd have my vote ... if only I had one ...

Third -- Garry. First, no such thing as American posties. We have postmen and presumably women, but no posties. Second, that's hilarious, but I think for once you weren't actually trying to be funny. They're not flags like country flags, they're little red ones on the side that are moved up when there is mail in the box (also, hence the name mailbox) and moved down when it has been emptied. It's a signal for the postal worker to know whether or not to expect to find something inside and for the resident to be able to tell if the mail's already come or not. But love the idea. Maybe we can deck ours out in Ohio gear ...