/. geekiness (happy 15th!)

But, seriously. I don’t think that your plan would work, because any bureaucracy so willing to censor would most likely just get rid of the program altogether, rather than overhaul it. They don’t make THAT much money off of vanity plates, and they REALLY don’t need bluenoses raising a public stink about “taxpayer dollars being used to spread filth”. Two birds, one stone would be the way they saw it.

Rewriting a directive wouldn’t solve this anyway, because the SoS / Driver’s Services isn’t the problem – It’s sidewalk supervisors and wet blankets everywhere, and a “questionable” license plate is just one more battleground in the age-old struggle between censorous old biddies and people who have, you know, a sense of humor or a life. I’m SO not recommending a retaliatory campaign to ban every faith-based license plate out there in the name of “fighting censorship”, because the irony would be too much to bear. I simply mentioned a possible method of hitting back against any particular petty moralist stupid enough to take action against somebodys’ making a joke which they neither get nor approve – But only as long as you can be sure that you’re hitting back against the right person. Tit for tat, and all that.

Those are long odds, I know – Your typical tattletale is a sneaky backstabber, not the type to strut up to you and boast “I’M the guy who got rid of your dirty license plate, praise Jesus !” But if the opportunity presents itself….Shoving a prude into the same bureacratic gears that they used on you MIGHT teach them a lesson, but Who Cares if it doesn’t ?  They’re all cowards anyway, and sometimes you gotta take what little happiness you can find…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/creamaster/1003039048/

I too feel this is the wrong way to handle (potentially) offending vanity plates. 

My thinking – wrong though it may be, as you so kindly* point out – is to protest these failings of the bureaucratic system by working within the self same system by turning it against itself. If you and I and others, (and I don’t think it would actually take too many people) complained about every vanity plate we saw, it wouldn’t take long before the process would be changed. Hopefully for the better.

*This part is sarcasm. I think you where being kinda jerky.

There’s a white Honda around here with the license plate G33K.

Saw a plate a while back that said “NBYOND” The car was an Infiniti.

Not geeky, but I still think the bright blue Mini with the license plate WHEEEEE was hilarious.

He’s got a lot of cars.  But he’s more of a collector, and likes the practicality and low profile of a regular middle-end machine.

My little bro doesn’t remember the plates.  But he’s pretty sure they weren’t vanity.

Excellent prosaic detail intermixed with solid first hand observation. Tie in with the current phase of election cycle is a good addition. The supporting letter from a significant other, a spouse without any apparent grudge against this vehicle, is a dangerous gambit but I think it pays off.  Dumping a car due to simple coolant reformatting seems harsh. But overall, I’m inclined to consider your claim valid.

For some unfathomable reason I thought it was / / – O which made no sense.

And a bright yellow one with FFFF00.

Maybe YOU should be hunting down the tattletales and puritans who don’t have anything better to do than to take up various driver’s services clerks valuable time, pissing and moaning over taxpaying citizens who were having some harmless fun on their own dime –

Because you sound just like one of them. I think that would be right up your alley, so to speak. You should be amongst your own people.