metro Detroiters are getting dumber and i have the proof
okay, maybe “dumber” is too harsh of a word. less focused, perhaps? whatever the case may be i’ve done a little research before i posted this so i could support my claim. now i’ll do my best Scott Lewis impression and say, “let’s look at what i found”: a while back i renewed my license plate by mail. a couple weeks later i received the most expensive tiny sticker ever, read the instructions that told me to make sure the plate was clean & warm then place the sticker in the lower right corner of the plate (since i have the all blue plate) and so i did. Stoked as i was i celebrated by driving my once again legal vehicle up to the Gas & Sip on the corner for a pack of Viceroys. after paying the clerk i got back in my Gremlin then proceeded to pound them on the butt of my hand. while i have no idea what that accomplishes i do it because all good smokers do it and i don’t want to look like an amatuer, but i digress… so as i’m slapping the crap out of my fresh pack i notice the car in front of mine has their little license tab not in the corner…not any corner but rather in the middle of the plate. didn’t they get the instruction sheet that mine had come attached to? hhmmm, odd. whatever. next thing i know i’m looking at every plate i see: in parking lots, at stop signs, gas pumps and i noticed that about one in ten have the sticker in the wrong place. i’ve seen some with them in each corner and in the middle. these people, if they read it at all, clearly skipped over the part on the directions that tell you not only where to put it but that you’re supposed to remove/replace the expired one. nope, some of you are out there showing off the fact that not only are you not good at following instuctions right now but that you haven’t been able to follow instructions for the past half decade. the sheet that mine came attached to even had a little diagram, for crying out loud. maybe it’s just their way of quietly snubbing their collective noses at the law. one tiny, little infraction that makes them feel a bit edgy yet hurts no one. perhaps they just don’t care. perhaps some simply aren’t taking the time to read the accompanying sheet or, as i stated earlier, perhaps some are just dumb. the next time you’re on the road take a look around and see for yourselves…or maybe take a look at your own plate to see if you’re one of “them”.
I see this all the time. My favorite was a blue plated car that had about 8-10 different year stickers ALL AROUND THE BORDER of the plate. Like a wallpapering of plate tabs.
I don’t think it’s people being dumb so much as they just can’t be bothered to actually read the instructions.
I hate to say it, but if you still have the all blue plate, then you are driving illegally. Starting in 2008, the all blue plate will no longer be street legal, and you were supposed to switch to the new white plate by the end of this year! So as karma goes, by you calling metro Detroiters dumb, it sounds as if you have joined that list. Sorry, just had to say it.
aahhh, the joy of being vague. when i said “a while ago” i could have specifically said “January” (which is when my birthday is) which in turn means that i will be up to speed when the 2008 laws kick in. i’ll be the first to admit my own dumb-ness when it applies but this time i’ve dodged that slow bullet.
I got my new (or I suppose LEGAL) white plate back in April, along with the new sticker. That day of driving, I did the same thing you did, and noticed that 90% of Michigan drivers had the sticker in the wrong spot, even with the new white plate.
What kills me most is that there’s a flippin indentation in the corner you’re supposed to have the sticker in! “Hmm… why would they put this 1 inch by 3/4ths inch indentation at the corner? I’ll put the 1 inch by 3/4ths inch sticker in the middle.”
Perhaps these folks aren’t as dumb as you think they are. There’s plenty of bad-guys out there that SNIP/SNIP off the corners of license plates and voila… they have a brand new sticker for sale or for their own car.
BUT, if you put the sticker in the middle, then there’s “too much cutting” involved, then the hoodlums go to a different car!
One needs not to snip snip to get off the sticker, most just need to peel carefully. And that can be done no matter where the sticker is.