John Conway paid $1,300 for a lamppost and matching mailbox, but the Thiensville, WI postmaster refuses to provide service because the mailbox is on the wrong side of the street. The disputed mailbox is part of a new housing development located twenty minutes north of Milwaukee.

“I’m sort of the guy who set the pace here,” Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. “I’m cemented in.”

The Conway’s concrete stance has the post office in a tizzy. They have refused to answer the Conway’s phone calls, and a local paper quoted one postal supervisor threatening to mark the Conway’s mail “return to sender.” A killjoy postal spokeswoman later retracted the statement, adding “We don’t do that.”

Postal regulations require new developments to place mailboxes on one side of the street so mail carriers don’t need to venture far from their trucks. Several nearby developments have mailboxes on both sides of the street.

If you plan to install a mailbox soon, something you probably only do once or twice in a lifetime, check with the postmaster ahead of time. Tell us in the comments who you think is right: the postmaster with the rule book, or the resolute homeowner. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Mail is signed, sealed, but it won’t be delivered [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

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