'Lo and behold... they had no mail service': Community handyman digs up an entire neighborhoods' mailboxes

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 2, 2024 11:00 AM EST

One retiree realized he had the time and resources to make a difference in his neighborhood. As his grandkid wrote in a post to r/maliciouscompliance, "it's pretty amazing what you can get done with 8 business hours of free time." Being retired is great in that way—you can do anything you please, including getting well acquainted with your neighbors. 

This dude's grandfather seems like an ideal neighbor: the kind of guy who brings donuts when he pops over for a visit, and who always has his neighbor's backs. He was also confused about why he and his neighbors had suddenly stopped getting their mail. We all get junk mail of course, but if you're waiting on a check or an important letter, getting your mail daily is a big deal. This grandfather had the time to figure out the mail issue, which was a pretty minor one, as he discovered. The fix for this issue was a bit more complicated! The original poster, u/zanfar, shared this excellent story, and commenters added their own stories about mailbox trouble. 

Next up, check out these people who just can't stop oversharing online, like the couple who keep "airing their drama about cheating on each other."

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    ଏ 1955 215
    via Paula Hayes on Unsplash
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    Six Feet Out, or Six Feet Up LOC I was reminiscing with my family about my late grandfather and some of the tomfoolery he got up to. I thought this story made a perfect post for this sub.
    via u/zanfar
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    Backstory: Decades ago, my grandparents purchased a large plot of land out in the middle of nowhere with the idea to build themselves a home and retire on that plot. They were both from the rural midwest, so they originally wanted to keep horses, chickens, and maybe a few other small farm animals on this land-- hence the size. As the years
    via u/zanfar
  • 04
    went by and they started actually making plans, they realized that horses weren't really feasible for a variety of reasons. By that time the area around their plot of land had been significantly more developed, so they instead split the plot into 8 pieces and sold the other 7, essentially financing their original purchase and the construction of the house-- leaving their retirement and
    via u/zanfar
  • 05
    pension untouched. Because of their incredibly advantageous position, they made a point to only sell to like-minded buyers: friendly retirees who were looking for their last home and wanted a bit of the same rural isolation that my grandparents wanted. The result is that my grandparents ended up with their dream bungalow
    via u/zanfar
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    on a spacious lot surrounded by friendly neighbors, and without any major time or money obligations. They ended up spending a lot of time volunteering and generally making friends with the community that was growing around them. The Event The area ended up becoming incorporated,
    via u/zanfar
  • 07
    and the town they were now living in eventually decided that the two-lane blacktop road needed to be re-paved and upgraded with sidewalks, gutters, and all the other amenities townspeople expect. Now the county that the town was incorporated from had planned ahead, and there was plenty of room set aside for exactly this type of project, so none of the
    via u/zanfar
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    residents needed to move their fences or give up property to the state. However, most of them had placed their mailboxes on a post about a half-dozen of feet from their property line--nearer to the road so that the postman had easy access. When the construction started, a city representative visited each property on this street and gave them a heads-up on
    via u/zanfar
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    what to expect, and also asked that the residents move their mailboxes to make room for construction. My grandfather, being of light schedule and helpful demeanor, offered to help his neighbors temporarily relocate their mailbox and post. He had retired from a career as a handyman, and several of his children
    via u/zanfar
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    owned landscaping or similar businesses. So he and my uncle spent a few hours with a mini-backhoe and unearthed all eight of his neighbors' mailbox posts--cement and all. He saved the posts to re-install when the road was complete, and mounted the mailbox proper on each property's fence.
    via u/zanfar
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    The Issue Lo and behold, on Monday they had no mail service. After a bit of investigation, they realized none of their neighbors did either. So the next morning my grandfather waited outside to see what the problem was. Right on time, the mailman drove down their side of the street, completely ignoring all
    via u/zanfar
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    eight properties. Redoubling his efforts, the next morning my grandfather was able to flag the mailman down and ask what the problem was. According to my grandfather, the very curt response was "I'm not required to deliver to any mailbox more than 36" from the edge of the road". A call to the postal service confirmed this rule: the
    via u/zanfar
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    mailman may deliver outside that limit if they want, but they are not required to. The Compliance Now it's pretty amazing what you can get done with 8 business hours of free time. The problem was that 36" from the current edge of the road is in the way of construction. My grandfather spoke to the
    via u/zanfar
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    construction supervisor, who was sympathetic but just as stuck as my grandfather was. My grandfather then visited the postal office and returned with a current copy of the regulations about mailbox locations. After a few hours of study, and another visit to the construction supervisor's office with a half-dozen doughnuts and some coffee, he had
    via u/zanfar
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    formulated a plan. Remember his sons who ran landscaping businesses? My grandfather got in his truck and visited both businesses. He returned home with eight 20-gallon plant pots. These things are huge: 30" tall and just about as large around. You see, while the construction guys couldn't mess with a federally-
    via u/zanfar
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    protected, fixed mailbox, they were happy to move a pot out of their way in the morning, and back when the job was finished for the day (my grandma makes some pretty good doughnuts) which is a pretty easy task when you have earthmoving equipment nearby. So each post was re-planted in a 20- gallon pot and each mailbox was re-mounted on
    via u/zanfar
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    a post and each pot was placed conservatively within 36" of the current road's edge. The kicker was that a mailbox post that is meant to stick 4-feet out of the ground has at least 2 feet buried in the ground--in other words, it's a 6-foot post. When you put that inside a pot with a few inches of soil underneath
    via u/zanfar
  • 18
    and that pot on the surface of the ground, a mailbox on top is easily more than 6- feet in the air. You see, the mailbox codes clearly specify how far horizontally a mailbox needs to be from the road, but say nothing about how high that mailbox needs to be. It took a few more conversations with the postman, and a visit from
    via u/zanfar
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    the local inspector, but the mailman spent the better part of six months delivering to eight mailboxes 6-feet in the air rather than walk the extra 6-feet to the fence.
    via u/zanfar
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    PimentoCheesehead • 3 yr. ago The post office has apparently closed this loophole- the bottom of a mailbox is now required to be 41" to 45" from the road surface.
    via u/zanfar
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    MLXIII 3 yr. ago My friend also had troubles with his mailbox. The snow plow driver always kept breaking and taking his mailbox despite flags and slightly higher posts. It was probably because he flipped the guy off the first few times but oh
    via u/zanfar
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    well. Anyways, One year he decided enough was enough and got a huge half barrel looking planter and filled it with concrete. He put his post in with a high flag again to let the snow plow driver know. First snowfall, my friend made sure to stand outside.
    via u/zanfar
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    Low and behold here comes the plow truck driver. BOOM yep...he now knows that this mailbox is not to be messed with anymore.
    via u/zanfar

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