Drivers and vanity plates

Someone recently told me there are four main motivators for what drives people – Power, Money, Fame and Recognition and most people fit neatly into a single category with regard to their main driver. Having paused a moment to consider what drives me – obviously not power or money as I have taken up teaching, but I’ve come to the slightly embarrassing conclusion that I probably fit in the Fame category or perhaps more accurately the Aspiring to Fame group. Such is my natural drive for self publicity aka showing off, it’s just as well I’m not a Celebrity as I suspect I’d be calling “I’m a Celebrity – Get me out of here” to see if they had any unexpected vacancies.

On the self-publicity front I was amused by a Sydney Morning Herald piece last week on personalised number plates. Apparently the Victorian police are auctioning off a number of vanity plates that have come into their hands through fair means or foul – though in reality we’re probably talking foul here. HITM4N (HITMAN) and D3AL3R (DEALER) and SO RICH were ones that caught my eye – it did make me wonder about the mentality of those who want to drive around either advertising their dodgy profession, surely bizarre if it happens to be illegal, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, revealing their aspirations (also dodgy).

In one of those no sooner do you read something, then you see it moments later coincidences, during the morning rush hour, which I have to point out is a laughable concept compared to rush hour London, I was behind a convertible mini with BIIMBO on its plates – admittedly I’d be done on the trade descriptions front in terms of past sell by date if I attempted to drive round labelling myself like this, but even if I was in a blonde, buxom, prime of life, bikini wearing moment, I think despite my innate Fame driver, I’d hesitate a bit – so perhaps I should reclassify myself as Fame, with timid edges. I use the timid edges phrase in tribute to a university friend who had two strictly segregated parties, one for her ‘square friends’ and one for her ‘trendy’ friends, no prizes for guessing which category I fitted into, but my closest friend was the only person to defy categorization and was invited to both as she was judged “a square with trendy edges”. If I’m honest it’s the state I’ve aspired to ever since – but I don’t think it would fit on a number plate.