Okay, first…no biggie. Upside down stamps usually mean “I love you.” - At least, from what I’ve heard. So when you send your loved one a letter, you up the stamp on upside down.
They will probably know that isn’t the reason and I highly doubt that a reasonable person would conclude that you were expressing your distaste for the U.S. by inverting a stamp. They probably:
a) Won’t notice
b) Think nothing of it
c) Hi, Opal!
d) Grin and think you were in a rush/doing it idly
Well, shit, I don’t know if I want the County Commissioners et. al. to go thinking I LOVE them…
And frankly, a year ago none of this would have occurred to me (and if they were personal letters, I’d never have thought twice about it)… but I’m inclined to think you’re right. So thanks.
Well, hanging the US flag upside-down is generally considered a sign of extreme distress – ISTR this is codified in whatever US laws govern flag display.
So, I guess the OP’s recipients will think she loves them, but is really upset about it.
If you haven’t mailed, them, restamp. If you have mailed them, quit reading.
The American flag flown upside down is a sign of distress. Flying the flag upside was a sign of political protest in the '60s. On the “wrong” side.
If I knew you and you sent me a letter with an upside down stamp, I’d think, “Geez, Auntie was kind of careless.”
If I was an elected official and you sent me a letter with an upside down stamp I’d think you were careless. If the contents of the letter were something I didn’t like, I’d think you were a jerk.
I am a postal worker. We see mail with the stamps in the top-left, bottom-left, and bottom right corners. Sometimes they’re on THE BACK of the envelope. Or the addresses are illegible. We open mail bags from street posting boxes and duly remove the dog turds, pornographic magazines, burger wrappers, used nappies (diapers), hypodermic needles, frozen chickens… (all true).
So you put yer stamps on upside down. Fuggeddaboudit.
Only the mailroom staff is going to see them, and they see so many stamps a day they wouldn’t notice a diagonally-placed stamp of Elvis with an alien head.
The pillar boxes here have the usual narrow slot for letters, but it’s in the centre of a hinged door which can be pulled down to post parcels (and frozen chickens).
When the Richard Nixon stamp came out a lot of people stuck them on their envelopes so that the cancellation stamp made it look like he was behind bars!
