Customised by Emily Bull (she/her)
Love comes in many forms.
One form is that between a girl and customised license plates.
Customised license plates have been funding road safety research and projects since 1988. However, customised license plates mean more to me than just road safety. Not only are they a way of identifying each car, they’re a way of showing your true identity. Thank you for letting me know you perform vasectomies, SNIP DR. I hope your kids are well, IMAMUM. Do you really only have 9TOES (and 10 fingers)? However, more often than not, these customised plates leave me with more questions than answers. What urged you to put SPIT on your car? Is there actually such thing as a POO DR? Who approved I CM DLY????
License plates bring me joy for a variety of reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I love the unhinged license plates that make no sense or shouldn’t have been approved. But I think there is something special to say about all the heartwarming license plates out there. Love can be expressed through a range of mediums. One is customised license plates. More often than not, the customised license plates you see around town will be gifted from loved ones. They serve as a reminder of how loved an individual is, whether that be through an inside joke or a genuine form of affection. License plates such as DOTY (dad of the year) and SIMP are a small but meaningful way to show love, which brings joy to more than just the owner of the vehicle. So, if you’re considering getting a customised license plate, I could not recommend it more. It only costs $1000 to bring joy to all around and fund road safety. Plus, your car will end up looking awesome!
However, if license plates aren’t your thing, that is okay. This article is so much bigger than just license plates. It’s a commentary on love, identity, niche interests and friendship. Since my obsession with customised license plates began in 2021, I can’t help but notice them everywhere. I have posted over 650 custom license plates on my dedicated Instagram account (@favouriteplates) and am yet to run out of content. However, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my account so active without the support of my friends. The majority of my posts are submitted by my loving friends, who support my niche interest. So, embrace your niche interest and find friends who support you!
Custom license plates have brought nothing but joy to my life, and they could for you too. As Ferris Bueller famously said, “Life [and cars] moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” It being, of course, a customised license plate.