Monday, June 10, 2013

Happy Birthday to the ZIP Code

Trivia for Tuesday,
Did you know it has been 50 years since the post office introduced the Zoning Improvement Plan or ZIP code? I remember learning about zip codes in the weekly readers series. Does that date me?
Anyway, the zip code is a five digit code meant to help sort mail for delivery to specific locations. Each digit has a meaning. The first three digits define the region or city. As in 722 means Little Rock. The last two digits refer to a post office, delivery area or neighborhood. Remember a few years ago, the post office had a campaign which was "zip plus four". The idea is the first two digits following the dash represent a sector or series of street block. The last two digits are a segment of a street or a particular side of the street.
Quick, can you think of why the zip plus four went by the wayside? The decline in mail due to the Internet use!
Now the post office bleeds money every month. The problem is really not so much a lack of mail but a government requirement regarding their pension funds. I can't tell that I receive any less junk mail, but I don't get magazines in the mail anymore. I just download them and read wherever I am.
Keep smiling!
Until  tomorrow,
Dr. Janet

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