Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Some people have pet rocks…

I have pet peeves. Yes, it’s true. Sometimes people do things that irk me. These things involve not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom, using florescent green ink to write notes, eating your slice of pizza directly over the rest of the, as yet uneaten, pizza, purchasing vowels and NBA officiating. But one of the worst offenders in my giant book of pet peeves is the vanity license plate. They’re not so bad when you can understand what they are trying to communicate through clever uses of the numbers 2,4 and 8, but sometimes, it’s an inside joke that only two people in the world know about. I will lose sleep over not knowing what it means, and I consider this a travesty.



This pet peeve also includes the license plate holder. I’ve accepted that many people in this world think that “Get in, Hold on and Shut up” is as clever as it gets. And of course there’s the ever popular, “Driver carries no cash, wife has it all.” I once saw that on the back of a rusted out ’78 Datsun. What was left of the paint job was irreversibly sun damaged, none of the hub caps matched and use of duct tape repair was rampant (I, of course, had the highest respect for this man knowing that he was keeping his vehicle up to code with a liberal use of duct tape.). I’ll bet that guy was getting held up at gun point by various gang members all the time and he had no choice but to protect himself in the only way he knew how, with a license plate holder.



One of the negative things about commuting 45 miles each way to work everyday is that I invariably encounter said license plates and license plate holders. Today, much to my chagrin, was no exception. It was a double whammy, and that’s saying a lot because every day when I get in my car, I say, “No whammies, no whammies” several dozen times in the hopes of avoiding any and all whammies, and wouldn’t you know it, I get a double whammy! What are the odds? 15,321,246,986,511,216,987,413,151 to 1,356,998. Strange odds I know, but seriously, who’s betting on that kind of stuff? Soccer moms and out of work chimpanzee actors, that’s who. I’ve seen them at the local dive bars, arguing with their bookies and it's not a pretty sight. (what was I doing at those local dive bars? That’s none of your damn business and I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your nosey little face out of my affairs!)



So I’m driving to work, and as usual, things start to slow down to the break neck pace of 15 mph. I suppose that’s fast if you’re on foot, but in this modern age, it just doesn’t do it for me. I’ve got 150 horses under the hood, and if you think they like to be corralled into a 15 mph pace, you’re dead wrong. They are wild horse and they like to run free. Unfortunately, the corralling that takes place means that the likely hood of me being annoyed by someone else’s license plate/ holder are increased by approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000%. Trust me on that one, I did the math, and that’s the increase. I triple checked it and had 4 unbiased mathematicians from 4 different, neutral countries verify my findings, and even though there was some grumbling about how bad the craft service table was, all of the mathematicians agreed with my findings.



Once the crawl had set in, it was only moments before I saw what would be the bane of my existence for the day. There they were on my right, a small, late model midnight blue BMW. My eyes were seemingly drawn to the license plate holder. I don’t know why, probably because irony knows no bounds. I read the license plat holder, knowing full well that nothing good would come of it. This is what it said, “Walk like it’s for sale and like the rent is due tomorrow.” Now I admit, from time to time, I make stuff up. Occasionally, my posts will be somewhat fictional in their content. This however, is no such post. I cannot for the life of me figure out what this piece of nonsense is supposed to mean. I will lose sleep over this. I will curse the existence of license plate holders and I will very likely run that person off the road should our paths ever cross again. Sure, maybe that’s a little harsh, but at this point, the rent is due and they are pretending to sell something. I don’t know if they are tight on money, I don’t know if it’s an apartment, a condo, or a house and I’m not sure if there are any homeowners association fees due. The license plate holder gave me no indication of that. If anyone has any knowledge on this topic that they are legally allowed to share, please feel free to do so in the comments.

12 comments:

cadiz12 said...

omar, you finally did it!
for all the squawking and jabbing i did, it made no difference. but you broke the 15th cycle.

i think it was the pacing.

way to go, slow and steady!

now if you'll excuse me, i have a post to read.

cadiz12 said...

okay, i'm back.

call me dirty-minded, but i'm thinking that last licenseplate holder owner is a prostitute who is giving out her secret to success: if you act like your rent is due, it'll put that little extra shake in your moneymaker that you need to pay them automo-bills.

omar said...

I'd like to take credit for it, yes. However, this post really did mess up my pacing scheme...

My pet peeve list also includes the non-flushers. I HATE it when people use a public toilet and don't flush.

How about organizational plates? I have Penn State plates (I get a mild amount of grief for this because I live in NY) that have a PSU logo on them, but the plate number is still random. (see what I mean here)

jazz said...

i'm with cadiz. that person is selling her body.

my virgin eyes can't handle such filth!

Syar said...

i have no idea or any inkling where to even begin on what that means.

if there are dirty connotations, it all just went over my head. whoosh!

now thats a pet peeve, not getting dirty jokes. corrupt my 17 year old mind, c'mon, i dare ya!!

cadiz12 said...

well, because we have no idea when or how jon will post again, i have taken it upon myself to request a topic. ignore me if you want, but i have to find ways to entertain myself here.

i'd like to see a post that incorporates:

skydiving
a cheese grater
and a snafu involving shoelaces

ready, set, go!

omar said...

And seedless grapes. I'd like to see seedless grapes in this post also.

omar said...

Are seedless grapes taboo or something? I said it two days ago, and suddenly there's no activity. I'm sorry, I take it back. NO seedless grapes.

cadiz12 said...

no omar, i htink our tactic is just not working. i see your seedless grapes and i raise you an angry antelope.

ooh this is fun. if he takes the bait, it'll be like a skewed reverse version of madlibs. (which, btw, i've been in the mood for seeing over on op.net lately, too -- hint hint.)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Aren't pet peeves little green things that you take for a walk?

Walk like it's for sale...

cadiz12 said...

today's the 15th...

A said...

Great now I will never be able to sleep again or maybe I'll just see if I can find a way to go on living without ever knowing whatever the *&^% was this supposed to mean...

On some reflection though, I'd be with cadiz too