Letters Matter

One item that caught my eye should remind all of us that letters matter. Not just words – letters.

Earlier this year, the state of North Carolina distributed licence plates with the first three letters, WTF. After being notified of what WTF stands for in today's text messaging world, officials announced they would take back any license plate that had the letters WTF before the three numbers. Now, being a former state employee and not up on the latest technology, I guess I could see how this happened. The lesson here might be that all future letter combinations on license plates should first be approved by a group of 12-year-olds.

On the other hand, last year the airport in Sioux City, Iowa finally decided to stop trying to change its three-letter airport identifier, and instead make it the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. There are now announcements on everything from luggage tags to t-shirts that proudly ask people to “FLY SUX.”

As an Iowan, I once decided to show my pride by buying a vanity plate that proclaimed to the world my home state. I took my cue from a plate I had seen that used the two letter VT (the abbreviation for Vermont) followed by the word NATIVE – the plate read VTNATIVE. Unfortunately, the state abbreviation for Iowa is IA, so my plate read IANATIVE. That plate lasted about three months. Yes, letters really do matter.