You don't got mail

Twice a week is plenty for the mailbox these days. Wait much longer and it's just political fliers stacking up—proof the box has turned mostly into ad space.

Advertising mail climbed to 62% of everything that lands inside, says USPS's own household mail survey, more dominant than it was 15 years ago. The bills that once made their monthly call are mostly gone, chased off by autopay and e-statements—the water-sewer bill, at least in Baton Rouge, and medical bills hold out as exceptions.

The real postal traffic skips the box entirely and goes straight to the door. An eBay win, a late-night Amazon order—that's a separate delivery system now, and it's doing more work than the mailbox ever did. USPS packages per household have nearly doubled over the decade, and what's inside changed almost as fast as how many there are. Gone is that Columbia House record of the month, the Netflix DVD or the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. All replaced by clothing and home goods, the stuff nobody has figured out how to download.

There are some stalwarts, especially those of the greatest generation variety, who still prefer to pay their bills the old-fashioned way—delivered by snail mail and returned, flag up, with a stamp and another antiquated relic, a check. Two-thirds of households 65 and older still pay bills by mail, but even that's down from the 86% half a score ago. Force of habit, maybe. Fear of change, perhaps. Not trusting personal information on the Google machine, fact.

So there really are two Americas: one collects what nobody asked for, the other delivers what someone did. And, a memo to Postmaster General David Steiner, an LSU grad, fraternity brother and former housemate: Bring back those cool, retro postal jeeps.

—JR Ball