I have been experiencing some problems with mail delivery via the USPS over the past few months. What happens is that someone mails me something, and it gets returned to the sender with a yellow sticker that says “not deliverable as addressed,” even though it’s my correct address. Then the person sends it a second time – with the exact same (and correct) address, and I get it. I’ve found out about the 3 or 4 times that this has happened from the people I know personally who contact me to ask about or confirm my address or just to let me know it’s come back to them. Who knows how many pieces of mail have been returned to sender as undeliverable and they just give up and throw it away?
At any rate, this image is the post-mark and stamp on a New Year’s card sent by a friend in January, which was in limbo for 6 weeks or so until it went back to her, and then she mailed it again and I just got it yesterday, a solid 11 weeks after it was first sent. There was something about the mix of images that caught my attention: a large manatee on the stamp, and a postmark image of a USPS mail truck with the message “Keep Safety in View as We Drive to You!” The positioning of the two elements almost makes it look like the manatee is stuck to the back of the truck and is dragging behind it … maybe this is why the USPS is having so much trouble delivering the mail? They need to “keep safety in view” and stop driving so close to the manatees!