Them license plates is hard

[Mr Hero]

This seems to be the common theme for tonight. Almost every customer that I check in and ask for their plate number gives me a confused look. I understand that you don't know your plate number. Most people don't. What bugs me is that you won't even go outside to check. I even had one guy go as far as say that it's too far to check.

Oh FFS we're only 62 rooms. How big can our vast parking lot actually be?

[Kristev]

I'd be unable to tell you my license plate, too. But that's because I haven't any car.

[Mytical]

It's not how far, it's how lazy. See, the car could be in the front lobby with them, and it would STILL be too hard for them to look at the plate and read it to you.

[Argabarga]

I used to know all of mine, when my state used to use three letter/three number XXX-000 combinations, but, they switched to 3/4 XXX-0000 combinations a few years back, and I've been unable to remember the number half of my plate ever since without looking.

But, I do remember the plate of my very first car, er, truck

YE-87229

what gets me are people calling up looking for their towed car that don't even know the make, model or COLOR.

[SharonsBitch]

In my state, we switched from red letters on white to blue letters on white, (in the sun, the red letters faded to pink, so it was basically unreadable, I guess it was cheap paint). The state discovered the error, but took a really long time to send us new plates, something like 4 years.

My point is I remember the old plate with red letters for some reason, it's even my wife's car that I seldom drive. On my car, I've always had the newer plates and I have no problem remembering them.

[Chromatix]

I can remember the plates of two cars (well, a car and a van) that my dad drove for a long time. I can't remember two others that he's had for less time. This is over a span of at least 25 years - he doesn't get through them very fast if he can help it.

I don't know if plates are changed regularly in Yankee land. Or is it that people just change their cars regularly?

[Sapphire Silk]

In my state, we switched from red letters on white to blue letters on white, (in the sun, the red letters faded to pink, so it was basically unreadable, I guess it was cheap paint). The state discovered the error, but took a really long time to send us new plates, something like 4 years.

My point is I remember the old plate with red letters for some reason, it's even my wife's car that I seldom drive. On my car, I've always had the newer plates and I have no problem remembering them.

My state recently switched from blue lettering to red . . . and just as quickly switched back to blue. I got lucky; the plate change only affected those getting new plates at the time, so I got to keep my blue plates.

But you know . . . your plate number is on your registration card. If you carry it in your wallet (I do), then it's easy to look up

[EvilEmpryss]

I used to know all of mine, when my state used to use three letter/three number XXX-000 combinations, but, they switched to 3/4 XXX-0000 combinations a few years back, and I've been unable to remember the number half of my plate ever since without looking.

OMG!!! Independent verification that Gravekeeper's suspicion that people can't remember more than about seven numbers is correct! And you're one of us!

[bhskittykatt]

I use backronyms to remember the letters. When I got a new plate, the letters were YJP. Other MOD took one look at it and said, "You Jerkin' P****!" So yeah, that's how I remember my plate number. I can't forget that one!

A guest told me she ALWAYS memorizes her plate number after what happened to her friend. Her friend's car was stolen, and she didn't know the plate number. She had to go online to look up her insurance policy before she could let the police know what it was, so that took some time to get that info. So yeah, plate number is something that can come in handy to know!

[PepperElf]

my old plates just happened to be my initials backwards i think
then the numbers were sequential

lol very easy to remember

[Shalom]

I don't know if plates are changed regularly in Yankee land. Or is it that people just change their cars regularly?

The first, basically. Elsewhere in the world, or at least in the UK, the plate (and its number) stays with the car if/when it's sold, so you can look at the plate and tell what the approximate age of the car is, and (if it's not excessively ancient) where in the country it was originally registered. Here in the states, though, the only permanent ID any vehicle has is the VIN, and when you register it you get a set of plates (or in some states, only one plate) from the Motor Vehicle Bureau, or whatever your state calls it.

(Here in NJ they recently switched to calling it the Motor Vehicle Commission, and made a big deal out of the fact that they're not a Department anymore. My response: Why should I give a damn?)

If you sell the car, the new owner is responsible for getting their own plates, with a new number on it. You have to then either have the plates transferred onto a new car, or send them back to the DMV (MVC, whatever) for destruction. I don't think the numbers are reused in that case, so eventually they run out of numbers and have to change the series.

Also, some states like to change the colors of the plates every now and then; when I was a kid, NY State plates were orange on blue (State colors); when I was about 7 or 8 they reversed it and sent everyone new plates in blue on orange. Then they went to blue on white with a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it. (This, I think, was a deliberate attempt to piss off the state of New Jersey, which was trying to claim that Liberty Island is in NJ. It's true that the island is surrounded by NJ territorial waters, but the land surface belongs to New York.) I just saw the new plates, and they're back to blue on orange. I don't know why they waste their money on this, except that license plates are traditionally manufactured by prisoners serving long-term sentences, so I guess it doesn't really cost them anything except for the sheet aluminum they stamp them out of.

[EricKei]

On a car we had yeeeeeeeeeears ago (plate was long since destroyed), our plate read EQL 222. The Dad took one look at it and said "'Equal to...', huh? I can live with that"

^_^

[dalesys]

The horror of requiring plate numbers to register at a m/hotel is the 6-7-8 trips out to the car to read it....

one character at a time!


And the imposition of another trip for the state!



My daughter's plate is 022 MEG, which strikes this electronic nerd's funny bone...

Because 22 megohms is the maximum resistance and she doesn't push easily.

(of many common resistor series)




Back in the goodle days, most, if not all, states issued you a new license plate with different colors & numbers every year. Florida got some fame for reusing numbers and gunning down innocents whose "new" plate had last years APB out on it.

[Sapphire Silk]

In Delaware (and some other states I think) you actually own your plate number. Low plate numbers carry (to some people) "prestige", and folks will pay outrageous sums for low plate numbers. I used to see ads in the paper all the time for this.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Am I odd that I actually know my plate number?

I tend to try to find a word out of it. Like my brother's old plate (since that car is long gone) was HGS 45P = Hugs for five people.