“My cat is smarter than your honor student.” “Stable relationships are for horses.” “I thought I was indecisive; now I’m not so sure.” “Without geometry, life is pointless.” “I’m schizophrenic and so am I.” And, my personal favorite: “WWJD (Who Wants Jelly Donuts?)”
Those are just some of the many hilarious bumper stickers I saw adorning vehicles this summer as my family traveled across the Midwest. Honestly, I’m still smiling as I write this. I don’t know where people come up with the material that eventually appears on bumper stickers, but I have to say, I am glad someone’s coming up with this stuff. Seeing the aforementioned sayings stuck to the backs of vehicles, which passed me along Hwy. 41, 29, I-43, I-94, I-90 and I-294 made the countless hours I spent behind the wheel a lot less boring.
Early on in our travels I came up with this grand idea of jotting down all the humorous bumper stickers and personalized license plates that came our way. I got off to an enthusiastic start (hence, the aforementioned stickers), but laziness quickly set in and I ended up getting a good laugh and then forgetting to write them down.
I also have to thank the person who came up with the idea of personalized license plates. When you find yourself on the road for hours at a time the process of deciphering drivers’ vanity plates provides much needed mental stimulation. All those numbers and letters– most with spaces, others crammed on a plate like alphabet soup, all very clever, and some that I still haven’t figured out.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for a family in Oregon. The Udink family has three personalized license plates for each one of the family’s cars. “UDINK1,” “UDINK2” and “UDINK3” have adorned the family’s license plates for years. But, now the state has ordered the family to surrender their personalized license plates because it says the plates are offensive.
Udink is the family’s Dutch last name. But according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, “dink” also has several derogatory meanings. DMV officials say the word can be treated as a verb, which gives it a sexual reference, and can also be interpreted as a racial slur targeted at the Vietnamese.
Making matters worse is the fact that the letter “U” appears in front of “DINK,” which DMV officials maintain can be construed as “You.”
The DMV says it denies requests for “any combination of letters and numbers that may be viewed as objectionable, in any language, by use of phonetic, numeric or reverse spelling, or when viewed as a mirror image, or that would alarm or offend a reasonable person.”
Mike Udink says he’s shocked that the state is recalling his plates especially since Udink is a common last name in The Netherlands. But the DMV says they have the right to censor license plates, because the state owns them.
Are you offended by “UDINK?”
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