I’ve never fully understood personalized license plates. It always seems like a lot of time and energy to make them funny or even spell them so someone could realize what you were trying to say in 6 letters or less. Some are worth the effort, most are not and some that make absolutely no sense.

The good ones are few and far between – the best example is my neighbor up the street with a Mini Cooper that has a plate that says “XXSML”. Kind of cute, a lot of work for a little bang, but kind of cute. Aaanndd I’m out of good examples.

Our other neighbor has one that says “BIGTED”. Now if you’re me,  you are thinking the guy hates minorities, when in reality his name is Ted and he’s of a large stature. This would go in the bad category because somewhere out there someone is going to key his SUV before they realize that the guy’s name is Ted. I saw one a few weeks ago that said “3W1DNA”. I’ll give you a hint, I was in Gilbert and it’s a minivan….give up? It’s triplets – three with one dna. I didn’t say it was good, I was just excited that I figured it out.

There was a car parked down the street from our house last weekend – a bright orange off road looking jeep with no windows. It also had tiger stripes painted on it and “Prozac Racing” sticker on the windshield. Of course, it had a personalized plate. It said “MENTAL”. Like we needed it spelled out for us – the feline stripes weren’t enough of a giveaway, thanks buddy.

My favorite was going to church last weekend. There is a mortuary next door and in the parking lot was a truck with a license plate that said “OBTURY” or Obituary. I find this hilarious. I like that the person dealing with death all day has a sense of humor – as long as he doesn’t decide to make all the dead people smile, I’m good with it.

Lastly, I saw a relatively reasonably priced sports car last week with a plate that said “XPNSVE”. Actually, you’re car is not expensive, so what is expensive? Your bad extensions? The cost to buy you a decent sense of humor? Or your hourly rates? Please clarify.

So much like one’s facebook status, I think personalized plates should be run by a minimum of 15 people. If half or less don’t get it, it’s bad. If you get pity laughs, don’t do it. And if they just smile nicely and back slowly towards the exit, just take what the DMV gives you and be happy.