Quirky Pet Peeve or Vanity Insanity?

Earlier this month I posted an entry on quirks. Well, today’s writing deals with a quirk of mine I recently discovered. Oh wait, maybe it’s a pet-peeve. Hmmm…be right back.

Ok, sorry ‘bout that. I had to grab the dictionary. Now, this appears to be less of a quirk and more of a pet peeve according to http://www.dictionary.com/. Oops…sorry. I started veering off course. Let’s see, quirk, pet-peeve, either way, it’s all good. Seriously.

Now, vanity plates – you know, the ones that go on the front of your car. Yet another way to express our personalities, our uniqueness, or, conversely, maybe, a way of showing support, membership.

For quite a while my ever-so-hip mini-van sported a HIS Radio FM 89.3 plate on the front. Then, when you would see other cars with the plate you felt a certain kinship; a common thread. But, in the speed of life, it wasn’t long before HIS Radio was replaced with something much more personal. A more elite group; the few, the proud, the financially depleted BAND PARENTS! Ok, so I’m only half-joking. The local high-school marching band, which our family was involved with for 8 years, had vanity plates made up for sale to those wishing to show support for the band (read: Band Parents). So, in essence, when you saw another plate like yours you knew it was someone truly “with the band.” A comrade! Ah…kinship!

Fast-forward five years or so. The flutist has graduated, the trumpet player has graduated, the band has redesigned the vanity plate and you feel it’s time for a change. Now, South Carolina has a pretty cool-looking state flag and in recent years the design has become quite popular. You find it on flip-flops, belts, shirts, tote bags, purses golf balls, and, yes, even Vanity Plates.

Ok, so this works. I like the design, I like the state, I like that it makes me feel SC is really “home.” Check the box, time to move on to more important things…But wait! In the space of a few weeks it seems that about 43% of cars in the upstate ALSO have MY vanity plate. Hey! There’s no kinship here. My plate is just like everyone else’s! Where did they all come from? I know there weren’t that many before I got mine. After all, Wal-Mart had tons of them! Since I got mine I now find that the plates come in metals, in Clemson colors, USC colors, colors to match your car, Carolina clay, Kudzu, Charleston’s “Rainbow Row,” etc. You’ll find more of these vanity plates than love-bugs on the front of cars.

Now, the loving family that I have, led by my dear husband, find it necessary (and immensely pleasurable) to point out each and every plate they see that’s like mine. These pronouncements, of course, are followed by giggles and snickering from the little palm-tree-detectives in the back seat. This is humiliating.

So…is it any wonder that my Christmas list has “Vanity Plate” listed near the top? I’m thinking maybe an Erskine College tag (only 600 students and 60 miles away) or our church, Freedom Fellowship. I kind of like the idea of getting back to the “kinship” and away from the masses!

Smile! Only 42 shopping days left ‘til Christmas!