When I purchased my car in mid-April, the paperwork guy at the dealership handed me a temporary tag in lieu of a license plate. I told him I had several months left before it expired on the plate I had on my previous car; since I'd memorized that plate's number, could I use it on the new ride?

He said that since that plate wasn't yet registered to the new car, it would be best to use the temporary tag, valid until June 14. "That should be long enough to get the registration paperwork to you," he said confidently.

In early June, it occurred to me that the registration paperwork had not yet arrived. I called the dealership; the gracious title clerk there told me it had been sent via USPS certified mail. She gave me the tracking number; it had arrived at the Little Rock Distribution Center at 3:43 p.m. May 21. I looked it up on the USPS website, where its status indicated it was "in transit."

You're reading this on June 28. It still hasn't arrived. And is still listed as being "in transit."

When I alerted the dealership to the situation, its finance people quickly assembled another set of paperwork, which for obvious reasons I fetched in person. The paperwork and I then visited the state Department of Motor Vehicles, where an........

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