On the Right

New York, Dec. 12 —An eye doctor, preparing his patient for a serious operation on cataracts, sent her instructions on how to prepare for the surgery, what blood tests and what-have-you she needed to go through, and what diet she should adhere to. The letter was posted in New York City, addressed to Sharon, Connecticut one hundred miles away. The letter arrived nine days later, two days before the operation. A New Yorker with a country home filled out a petition for variance. The law requires that he furnish the zoning board with a registered letter dated at least two weeks before the hearing date. Accordingly, he sent the forms allowing seven days for them to reach Stamford, Connecticut 35 miles away. The letter arrived 19 days later. An investor, filling out a form instructing his broker on the handling of a highly volatile stock, put it in the mail. The broker received it six days later. The broker’s office is less than one mile away.

As the saying goes, something ought to be done about it. Nothing is more infuriating, in the present climate, than to see those bureaucratic reminders by the Post Office, enjoining us to use the zip Code. Presumably without the zip, a letter from New York to Stamford could take 38 days, instead of a mere 19. The only instruction I would take seriously from the Post Office these days is the recommendation that I deliver my own mail.

New York, Dec. 12 —An eye doctor, preparing his patient for a serious operation on cataracts, sent her instructions on how to prepare for the surgery, what blood tests and what-have-you she needed to go through, and what diet she should adhere to. The letter was posted in New York City, addressed to Sharon, Connecticut one hundred miles away. The letter arrived nine days later, two days before the operation. A New Yorker with a country home filled out a petition for variance. The law requires that he furnish the zoning board with a registered letter dated at least two weeks before the hearing date. Accordingly, he sent the forms allowing seven days for them to reach Stamford, Connecticut 35 miles away. The letter arrived 19 days later. An investor, filling out a form instructing his broker on the handling of a highly volatile stock, put it in the mail. The broker received it six days later. The broker’s office is less than one mile away.

As the saying goes, something ought to be done about it. Nothing is more infuriating, in the present climate, than to see those bureaucratic reminders by the Post Office, enjoining us to use the zip Code. Presumably without the zip, a letter from New York to Stamford could take 38 days, instead of a mere 19. The only instruction I would take seriously from the Post Office these days is the recommendation that I deliver my own mail.