The letterbox is a place that society seriously underestimates, which the common housemate usually pays attention to when they pass by – and then only in mechanically cool movements: flap open, flap closed, letter in, letter out. A mailbox knows no romance. It ekes out its aesthetically insignificant life as a bulky sheet metal part on a stairwell wall or is trapped in a cold stone post at the garden gate.
The letterbox has everything that makes a significant cultural object: it collects a person’s destiny that has been written down. The mailbox is, if not the stage, at least the props room in a tale of happiness and misfortune, hope and disappointment, gain and loss. Its content can make the difference in careers, relationships, and bank balances. With the so-called letterbox syndrome, the mailbox even has its own clinical picture, in which those affected no longer empty the compartment for fear of bad news.
In times of e-mail, Whatsapp and video calls, the analog inbox is slipping more and more into insignificance. How long will it be before he gets the fate of the phone booth that stands here and there like an undead in the world?
In Garmisch, dozens of postal workers recently dropped out
In the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the residents recently got a foretaste of the dystopian future: for almost two weeks, the mailboxes in parts of the city and communities remained empty, like that Garmisch daily newspaper reported. Lo and behold: Suddenly all attention was focused on the orphaned mail slot. One of those affected even reported about his painful waiting “for several bills”. A horror!
When asked by SZ, a Post spokeswoman confirmed the delivery problems. “The reason was increased sick leave, which unfortunately we were not able to fully compensate for.” Dozens of employees are said to have failed. It is not known whether this is a new type of letterbox syndrome. It probably wasn’t Corona. Fortunately, according to the spokeswoman, the problem has now been resolved – the people of Garmisch-Partenkirchen can look forward to fines, electricity bills and advertising from telephone providers.