What's on your Plate? (Nov. 7, 2011)

What you have on your plate can speak volumes about you. I’m talking license plate, not dinner plate. (Although what’s on your dinner plate can say a lot about you, too!)

Personalized license plates. I see them every day. They can be fun. But sometimes annoying, if I’m being honest. Have you seen the kind that seems to make no sense to anyone but the owner? I wonder about these. If the message is so obscure that only one living soul will understand it, why spend the cash to buy personalized plates? Save yourself the fee and write the very important message only you understand on a post-it!

You’ll notice that people use the seven spaces in their license plates various ways. Some people use their plates to bring humor to the world (my favorite). Others reference their professions, hobbies, passions or pop culture. Personally, I think I’d find it hard to choose only one word or phrase to describe myself, so I settle for the random bunch of letters and numbers the DMV issued us! Seriously though, how can I sum up myself in only seven spaces? Do I reference my favorite hobbies, color, animal, my career? How do you boil a life down to seven spaces? Impossible! I’m not exactly known for being short-winded, so seven spaces is really inadequate. (Thank heavens for unlimited space in the blogosphere.) So for now, I’ll keep my thoughts off my actual license plate. Although I won’t keep my thoughts to myself. After all, I am blogging about them!

The inspiration for this blog piece came from a friend who had a few photos of funny license plates on his blog. What follows here is a collection of ten unusual license plates I’ve seen and photographed. (Yay, digital cameras!)

Shamu. This license plate is on a 1950s sedan. It’s black, and has the solid build and curvy contours you find on cars of that era as well as on killer whales. So clever!

Dreeman. I think he’s self-describing as a dreamer (but he’s not the only one), rather than a psychiatrist who analyzes dreams, but I may never know…

I’m 7T+. This is on a spunky red VW Beetle, parked at a local park where seniors have softball games. You go, girl! Your car looks peppy and I’d say you are, too.

I cook for you. This woman lives nearby and has a business delivering meals. Creative spelling (as someone else had already had the more typically-seen spelling of “cook” on her license plate). Not free advertising but a decent way to market to whomever is behind you at a red light!

Econ dr. I had to include this because my dad’s PhD is in Economics and it made me think of him. See, Dad? Other number addicts are out there!

I Love Kermie. Oh, a reference to a wonderful television program from my childhood, The Muppet Show. Major nostalgia. Must track down this driver and set up informal club for people with playful personalities.

Me Funky. Okay, since I do see myself as funky, this one spoke to me. On the other hand, a note of irony, as it was on a Lexus, and (forgive me for making gross generalizations) I didn’t associate funkiness with Lexusness. Had it been on a 1960s VW bus, yes. But either way, it was cute.

Oh Behave. This was on a Mini Cooper and gets points for the connection between Austin Powers (who was supposedly British) and the car, made in England. Extra points for phonetic spelling, because Austin says that phrase many times in his quirky accent.

I Love Los Lobos. (Los Lobos is Spanish for “the wolves,” and is a band that was formed in the mid-1970s.) If the name of your favorite music group can be fit onto your license plate, go for it. Although I wonder if this driver isn’t referencing the band but simply loves wolves. It’s possible. Wolves need love, too.

Rad Mom. This was in a restaurant filled with hundreds of custom license plates. But I exercised great restraint and took a photo of only one. Since I am a mom, I can say with conviction that many moms feel they never do enough. So I thought it was cool that the mom in question saw herself as rad and wasn’t afraid to give herself a pat on her rad back!