Consulting the oracle

As you know, I am easily amused, and one of my sources of entertainment is vanity plates—what people choose to proclaim via the semi-permanent mechanism of their vehicle’s license plates is endlessly fascinating to me. Such things are ongoing expenses: $10 to buy the plate from the DMV; then $10 per year for as long as you still want it.

It’s more permanent than a bumper sticker; less permanent than a tattoo.

So here’s one I find really interesting:

First, there’s the fox-hunting plate. Here’s someone proudly proclaiming that they’re down with a quintessentially elitist activity that can only be engaged in by people with much too much money and time, the practice of which is inordinately destructive of farmland all out of proportion to the keeping down of vermin. I mean, if The Old Dominion has a fox problem, having overbred elements in ridiculously-overpriced outfits that can only be worn for this pursuit, riding crash around across fields on heavy hunters would not be an efficient solution.

But then there’s the vanity part of this plate. Some Honda owner, whose priorities have already been called into question, is driving a stake in the ground at Oracle SQL. And is paying $10 every year to do this.

Fascinating.