Friday, 7/18

Well, I have to keep up my credentials as a dork SOME way, right?

For the umpteenth year in a row I'm about to count license plates. For those of you who haven't been reading this forever, every year during the week leading up to Art on the Rocks I keep track of how many states and Canadian provinces are represented by license plates in Marquette. I don't know how it started or what I hoped to accomplish by doing this; all I know is that I've been doing it forever.

And aside from being a dork, I can't figure out WHY I keep on doing it.

Well, I shouldn't say that. I do it out of curiosity. I do it to see who's visiting Marquette. And I do it as a (very) general gauge of how the country's economy is doing. During years when the economy isn't doing well you can see plates from only 15 or 20 different states. The past couple of years, when the economy seemed be strong, you could see plates from up to 40 or 45 different areas.

Because things are in such economic flux this year, I have no idea what to expect. And that's one of the reasons I seem to keep doing it.

I also do it because I notice things while counting plates. For instance, I can always tell every year when there's either been a newspaper article written about Marquette, or if Travel Marquette has launched an ad campaign in a certain area, if only because plates from those states pop up more than they usually do (like Georgia, for some bizarre reason, last year).

I've also noticed that I've become quite good at knowing which plates are from which states, just by looking. It's easy for many, because they don't change their plates over the years, and after a while you know that New York has orange plates with blue bands, or that Pennsylvania has yellow plates with blue bands. One look, and I know from which states they come. Of course, then you get states like Florida (or even Michigan), which seem to have 22 different plates in 22 different colors, and those are the ones that demand your attention.

Sometimes, it's not easy being a dork. Really, it isn't!

Over the years, I've also learned that I don't need to look at every single car that passes. For instance, if a pickup truck goes by, odds are that it'll have Michigan plates. Most people, after all, don't take gas guzzlers on vacations. And if a Subaru Outback goes by, odds are it will also have Michigan plates, if only because it's the official car of the city of Marquette. And if you see a vehicle with lots of rust on it or parts trailing off the back of it...well, I can GUARANTEE it'll have Michigan plates on it.

Assuming, of course, the plates haven't fallen off yet.

I'll be curious to see how many I end up with when the week is over, and if I discover any hidden meanings in what I find. After all, I should end up with something OTHER than enhanced credentials as a dork for doing this for so long, right?

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com), uber-dork and font of all things license plate related.