Snorkle Boxes?

[Erin McKean]

I was getting Henry a passport yesterday for our trip to Euralex and
visited a large post office on Chicago's far north side. There was a
large banner on the outside of the building telling people not to
park in the no parking zone and that "snorkle boxes" were available
in the nearby K-mart parking lot for customers' convenience.

Are snorkle boxes the post office boxes with the snouty-looking tops,
as opposed to the "pull the door open and put in your letters" type?
I did a desultory look in a few dictionaries--nothing. Ditto on
www.dogpile.com.

Also, on a recent foray into a parking garage downtown, I was advised
to pull up to the next "ticket spitter" since the first one was
broken. Is this the accepted term? It's what I'd call 'em!

Erin McKean