Residents must start using ZIP codes

By Tracy Farr
Editor, The Daily Spittoon

A new Crappie County law went into affect January 1 that states all local mail must include a five-number ZIP code as well as a person's full address.  The law is meant to make the delivery of local letters more efficient, but not everybody is happy about it.

I've been writing to my Aunt Ethel on Stellar Street for 27 years," said Bob Brundel, an orderly at Crappie County Regional Hospital.  "On the envelope I just write Aunt Ethel on Strand and it always gets there.  If that's been good enough for 27 years, I don't see any reason why we should start changing the system."

Betty Swivel, the Stinky Creek Post Office Postmaster, says adding the full address and ZIP codes to all local letters will make the delivery of mail more efficient and will bring Crappie County into the 21st Century.

"Used to be that if someone addressed a letter to Fred -- and I mean the only thing on the envelope was his name, Fred -- we knew they meant Fred Neeley of Fred's Barbershop and we took it right to him," Swivel said, "but times have changed.  With the advent of the internet and instant messaging, we've got to use our resources wisely.  Everybody already puts full addresses and ZIP codes on out-of-town mail, we're just asking them to now put it on IN town mail."

ZIP codes -- which stands for Zoning Improvement Code -- started in 1943 in larger cities.  It became widespread in 1963.

The first digit designates a broad geographical area of the United States, ranging from zero for the Northeast to nine for the far West. The next two digits specify population concentrations within those areas. The last two digits designate small post offices or postal zones in larger zoned cities.

"I know that some will see this as a kind of government program to spy on people, but I assure them that it's not," Swivel said.  "It's just that nowadays there are more Freds out there than ever before, and we just want to make sure we get the mail to the correct one."