Are You Vain?
By Marie Anne
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
United States
July 31, 2008 8:31am CST
I am!
Well, I have vanity plates, anyway. That's about as vain as I get.
This is a picture of what I had for a vanity plate on my car when I was in NC. I couldn't afford the vanity plate at the time I had to re-register when I moved to OH, but I did get the plate that indicates I'm retired from the Marine Corps as that didn't cost anything extra.
For those of you that don't know, jarhead is an old affectionate term for Marine, and I retired as a MSgt after serving more than 21 years. I could only use 5 digits for my plate in NC, so this was the best I could come up with.
Do you have vanity plates? Is it obvious what it means?
5 people like this
9 responses
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
1 Aug 08
We do not have vanity plates. I think they cost a bit more here than the regular plates. They do sound like a good idea. I guess I am not that much into vanity and besides I would have no idea what to put on it. And I cannot drive, so it would have to be my husband's idea.
3 people like this
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
31 Jul 08
No vanity plates for me just because I never cared what was on the plate. Prefer to keep a low profile and sort of blend in I guess.
If I didn't already know that you use the jarhead nickname, I would not easily know what the JR meant on your plate. But it does make sense to me now. I have seen some really cute plates on cars though and sometimes it makes me want one.
2 people like this
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
31 Jul 08
NC is very military friendly (lots of bases there), and I lived not far from Camp Lejeune at the time, so the meaning on the plate would have made sense to most, especially since it has the Marine Corps emblem to the left of it (retired plates).
I wanted to make it more obvious, but ran out of ideas since I could only use 5 characters.
1 person likes this
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
31 Jul 08
Yes, I can see where that area would know the meaning right off. I have lived close to Ft Carson and Ft Campbell now which are both Army posts so I guess if I were younger or more into the military lifestyle it would be more obvious to me too.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
1 Aug 08
Nope, never have had them. My husband and I do get a big kick out of trying to decipher them, it is good mental exercise and discussion fodder. I will look at the pic when I get out of e mail. It is fun.
2 people like this
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
1 Aug 08
Here in the UK,you can't get vanity plates using actual words..there are combinations of maybe 3 letters and maybe up to 5 digits..the local county plate was previously ?IL ????, so the plate "OIL 1" was put up for auction by the buyer for something like £20k! I remember seeing a photo of a plate on a scooter way back..it was "A 816 FLY" (A Big Fly!) you can maybe get the letter combinations to match your initials..the digits on my car's plate coincidentally have my birth month and my SO's date and month combined,which I like!
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
31 Jul 08
I've seen some really funny vanity plates but never have had them, myself. I'm too cheap to pay the price! I saw one recently that said "BZ B4". I guess she must be busier now or have nothing to do, I wonder which?
2 people like this
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
1 Aug 08
The only thing I'm vain about is dying my hair! I refuse to be a grey old hag (I'm 50 now, but it was going grey in my mid 30s) - and it wouldn't have been so bad if it was that nice, soft grey, but it's wiry and silvery and really horrible! I'm definitely not vain about clothing (hate buying clothes and dress like a slob) - but I like having clean, neat hair. My daughter once had purple numberplates with her name on before she moved to another state and couldn't keep them - but I'd rather not look conspicuous and have my car recognised. It's a very ordinary, common type of vehicle with plates I can't even remember myself!
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
9 Aug 08
no I don't have any vanity plates, I don't even know what that is lol, but I can be vain sometimes and extremely humble at other times, I just never know, It is sometimes hard for me to accept criticism and that I guess is where my vanity shows, then at other times I took more criticism when I shouldn't, I guess I am just weird.
1 person likes this
@CharRay7 (1549)
• United States
1 Aug 08
Hi Marie Anne,
I got the plates I have now back when I got my first car when I was 18. The plate reads "CAR 198" The CAR were my initials before I got married. I don't think I could afford the vanity plates then so I just wrote in and asked for CAR anything so the 198 doesn't really mean anything. 
Whenever I've changed cars, I kept the same plate. It's kind of become part of me. lol
[i]Happy MyLotting,
Char[/i]
Whenever I've changed cars, I kept the same plate. It's kind of become part of me. lol
[i]Happy MyLotting,
Char[/i]
1 person likes this
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
1 Aug 08
Nope no vanity for me, not to say I didn't consider it though JK.
Anyway, I don't think your plate is vain at all. Twenty one + years is hardly vain!! You are a jarhead, eat sleep breath USMC right? God and Country? Everyone should be thankful for your service - OORAH
People that aren't familiar might not get it. You know I would
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
1 Aug 08
Honestly, normally I wouldn't make a big deal about it, but since there are so few women that went the route that I did, most people would think that the car belonged to my husband or something with the retired sticker and MSgt rank insignia on it.
I wanted to make sure there was no doubt that it was mine, ya know?
1 person likes this
