Strude

On the way to work, I was doing 70 in a 60 mph zone. 201 at that point is just a two lane job. I was in the left lane passing a garbage truck when a glance in my rear view revealed some lady in a Ford just hugging my bumper to no end. She was close enough that I could clearly see every whisker on her chin.

Her firm set mouth set below her enormous bug-eyed sunglasses let me know she was itching to get a move on despite the fact we were already speeding. I eased off the gas so I wouldn’t completely pass the garbage truck. I ended up half a car length ahead. I think the garbage truck driver read my mind because he sped up until we were nose to nose and then matched my speed.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked in my mirror again. The lady trapped in the Ford behind us was not happy.

But I was.

I have seen this weird phenomenon several times over the past few weeks.

On my own license plate, I have 3 stickers for the purpose of registration.  One for the county in which the vehicle is registered, one for the month in which it was registered, and of course the third sticker is for the year.  Now, every year when I renew the registration, I just put the new year’s sticker over the past year’s sticker.

However, I have seen several cars on the road who are placing the new year’s sticker next to the old one.  Two had years ‘04 through ‘08 stretching across the top of the plate.  One more year and they are going to have to start a second line.

What is the point of this?  Is it some sort of bragging right?  Do you think a cop is going to be more lenient if he pulls you over?  “Oh, I see, not only are you registered this year, but you’ve been registered for five years straight.  I’ll just give you a warning then.”

I don’t get it.