Private number plates - narc or normal? :-)

ThisIsWeird

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

I understand your friend's point.  When I had a car with registration L124VGV, it was constantly being vandalized by followers of PEV48X United.  Fortunately that all stopped when L124VGV Wednesday were demoted from the football league, declared bankruptcy and reformed as a carpet bowls club...  

All of that has gorn completely whooooshhhh over my head :-)

HillStreetBlues

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

I understand your friend's point.  When I had a car with registration L124VGV, it was constantly being vandalized by followers of PEV48X United.  Fortunately that all stopped when L124VGV Wednesday were demoted from the football league, declared bankruptcy and reformed as a carpet bowls club...  

  Brilliant

northwalesd

ThisIsWeird said:

northwalesd said:

My OH has a personal plate, I don't think he thinks about it at all.

I presume he thought about it when he bought it?

Does it represent his name?

May I ask - what do you think of it?

He didn't buy it, it was a gift. No, it doesn't represent his name, it represents a breed of dog, we no longer have any pets (though he, then we, had three of the breed represented on the plate). As we had three of said dogs, I like the plate.

ThisIsWeird

northwalesd said:

ThisIsWeird said:

northwalesd said:

My OH has a personal plate, I don't think he thinks about it at all.

I presume he thought about it when he bought it?

Does it represent his name?

May I ask - what do you think of it?

He didn't buy it, it was a gift. No, it doesn't represent his name, it represents a breed of dog, we no longer have any pets (though he, then we, had three of the breed represented on the plate). As we had three of said dogs, I like the plate.

Cool. My fav plates have K9 on them :-)

What kind of dawgs did you have?

northwalesd

ThisIsWeird said:

Cool. My fav plates have K9 on them :-)

What kind of dawgs did you have?

Old English Sheepdogs, the licence plate therefore ending OES. Wouldn't mean much to most people, but it does to us.

Nebulous2

I moved from a big town, where private plates were rare, to a rural area where they are everywhere. 

Lots of them are company owned, the name of a fishing boat, or the name of farm. 

It's common for youngsters to get them for their first car, with their name. It's also common for older people to get them for significant life events - retirement for instance. 

It is simply a different cultural mindset. I don't have one, and likely never will, but I'm certainly less against them than I used to be. 

At work most people have them, but they aren't a topic of conversation. They are simply there. 

ThisIsWeird

Nebulous2 said:

I moved from a big town, where private plates were rare, to a rural area where they are everywhere. 

Lots of them are company owned, the name of a fishing boat, or the name of farm. 

It's common for youngsters to get them for their first car, with their name. It's also common for older people to get them for significant life events - retirement for instance. 

It is simply a different cultural mindset. I don't have one, and likely never will, but I'm certainly less against them than I used to be. 

At work most people have them, but they aren't a topic of conversation. They are simply there. 

I agree with everything you say, Neb. And thank you.

Company owned? Cool. Fishing boat? Super-cool. Farm - a surprise, but - hey - if they can afford it, then cool. Retirement? Why not. Significant life event? Ok - I know someone from my past who has a plate that, heartbreakingly, commemorates their lost child. So I wouldn't have a word said against them.

None of the above is what this thread is about, tho'.

Car_54

ThisIsWeird said:

Nebulous2 said:

I moved from a big town, where private plates were rare, to a rural area where they are everywhere. 

Lots of them are company owned, the name of a fishing boat, or the name of farm. 

It's common for youngsters to get them for their first car, with their name. It's also common for older people to get them for significant life events - retirement for instance. 

It is simply a different cultural mindset. I don't have one, and likely never will, but I'm certainly less against them than I used to be. 

At work most people have them, but they aren't a topic of conversation. They are simply there. 

I agree with everything you say, Neb. And thank you.

Company owned? Cool. Fishing boat? Super-cool. Farm - a surprise, but - hey - if they can afford it, then cool. Retirement? Why not. Significant life event? Ok - I know someone from my past who has a plate that, heartbreakingly, commemorates their lost child. So I wouldn't have a word said against them.

None of the above is what this thread is about, tho'.

So what exactly is this thread “about”?

What does “Narc” mean? - narcotics, narcissus?

HillStreetBlues

Car_54 said:

What does “Narc” mean? - narcotics, narcissus?

I would tell you, but I'm no grass.

Nebulous2

ThisIsWeird said:

Nebulous2 said:

I moved from a big town, where private plates were rare, to a rural area where they are everywhere. 

Lots of them are company owned, the name of a fishing boat, or the name of farm. 

It's common for youngsters to get them for their first car, with their name. It's also common for older people to get them for significant life events - retirement for instance. 

It is simply a different cultural mindset. I don't have one, and likely never will, but I'm certainly less against them than I used to be. 

At work most people have them, but they aren't a topic of conversation. They are simply there. 

I agree with everything you say, Neb. And thank you.

Company owned? Cool. Fishing boat? Super-cool. Farm - a surprise, but - hey - if they can afford it, then cool. Retirement? Why not. Significant life event? Ok - I know someone from my past who has a plate that, heartbreakingly, commemorates their lost child. So I wouldn't have a word said against them.

None of the above is what this thread is about, tho'.

You've lost me a bit there - as many of those will be based on people's names, which I thought was what the thread was about.

If your father is a wealthy fisherman, and you get a new car for your 17th birthday, then the expectation is that it will also have a personal plate. Not to have one would be like having a cake without the topping.

If you have several farms and a large business selling seed potatoes internationally, then your business will have its name on the plate of several vehicles. You may also have a Range Rover with your two initials and a 1 after it. If that plate can be obtained at all. 

These are cultural decisions as I said, but they are also a display of status.  Where there are no private schools, and no areas with only million pound houses, then you need to differentiate yourself. 

That cascades down. I know someone who worked in the local hotel, while still at school, saved their earnings, and bought a private plate with their initials on retention, before having a car. 

In the past I would have sneered at most of that. However I now think the world is a big place, and there is room for lots of variety in it. They are doing no harm - which is worth a lot in my book.....