Boxed In, Or Out

For all those postal patrons whose mail goes into post office boxes rather than being delivered to street addresses, what a happy new year it would be if the United States Postal Service were to figure out a way to insure that all letters get where they are meant to go.

A few years ago an edict came down from Washington that no matter how small the community or well known the recipient, post office employees were not to place mail in a box unless it bore the proper box number. Not only that, but they were no longer to give out box numbers if asked.

Here on Long Island's East End, where many of us know each other, the rule is sometimes honored in the breach, for which residents are grateful. But ever since the rule went into effect things have gone from good to worse.

From the sender's point of view, the telephone book has become obsolete as a means of finding an address. Who has not sent off a birthday card to a friend who has lived in the same place for years only to have it returned for the lack of a box number? Who has not wondered why so-and-so failed to show at a party, only to have their invitation bounce back a week or two later?

Once upon a time, our local postmasters made sure a letter got where it was meant to go as a matter of course and sometimes with no more direction than "Jane Smith, Amagansett" on the envelope. Now, they have to balance the motto of the Postal Service - against counterproductive Postal Service rules.

Those who pick up their mail at post offices ought to be treated with respect: They are saving it the expense of delivery. Besides, if you are going to inconvenience the public, you ought at least try to mitigate the inconvenience. The Federal Government has an obligation to disseminate box numbers if it is going to insist they be used.

In small towns, post offices could keep up-to-date lists and give out numbers when requested. Where volume makes that inconvenient, post offices (or direct mail or telephone book companies authorized by the Postal Service) could publish directories for distribution to all residents. The method doesn't matter as long as the information is freely available.

But do it, and do it in 1997. At a time when the Government is worried about the proliferation of alternatives to the U.S. Mail, it would make good business sense for the Postal Service to be as accommodating as possible.