This past October, something happened within the borders of our great state. Something horrible. Something that will cause us great embarrassment when we journey into the realm of the rest of the country. What is it? Our new license plate. What happened? I’ve seen a lot of car tags in my days of traveling around, and our new tag has to be the ugliest one yet. I’m sure we’ll all get used to it after five years, but I can’t stand it!
I don’t quite understand the theme. Pale pine forests and teal water? Not everyone lives on the river, and the river sure isn’t blue-try muddy brown. And that little magnolia looks like a 4-year-old drew it! Why didn’t they use the one from the old tag?
What happened to the good old days? My favorite Mississippi tag of all time was the one from 10 years ago-the white tag with the blue fade from the top down. If my memory serves me right, we won a national award for that tag.
Then we went to the green, white and yellow tag. I wasn’t a huge fan of this tag either when it came out, but I had no room to complain. Neither did anyone else. After all, the taxpayers and citizens of Mississippi voted on that tag. True, we didn’t have a huge choice, but at least we picked the lesser evil.
Earlier this year, I was beginning to wonder what the committee would come up with for us to vote on for the new tag. Months kept going by, and I never heard anything about it. Then I pick up the paper in late September to find yet another atrocity on the front page: the new tag. I was infuriated. Not only did we not get to vote on it, we didn’t even know what had been happening. We were kept in the dark.
I know that Mississippians haven’t always been allowed to vote on the tag, but I thought it was a breakthrough idea. If we have to display a metal label for five years, then I think we should have a say in what it looks like. Many other states do it.
Also, we vote for an absurd amount of public officials. The design of a license plate seems more important to me than, say, if the county coroner is a Republican or a Democrat.
The committee that chose the current tag told Mississippians that they couldn’t vote on the tag because the budget was cut and there was no money to fund the ballots.
But, of all the little things that our state spends countless dollars on, I think automobile tags are important to its citizens. At the very least, we could have had an Internet vote, which wouldn’t have cost near what the paper ballots do.
Those who would disagree with me about my tag outrage might say something like, “It’s only for five years,” “I never look at mine” or “I don’t even know the numbers.”
I concede that it is only for five years. However, for those five years, everywhere I go, I’ll be behind a car, truck or van, and I’ll have to stare at its tag for my entire trip. It’s inescapable.
What makes it worse is that I have to be one of the first to get the new tag when it comes out every time. My tag expires in October, so I get to sport the latest committee creation for all to see.
I guess I should look on the bright side, though. I’ll get to chunk this new tag sooner than everyone else.
We should clamor for the return of our voting rights. We shouldn’t let a tiny committee of unknowns decide the fate of our cars’ rear ends. The rest of the country judges us by our tags when we go on vacation! We can’t stand for ugly tags any longer. Unite!
As for myself, I’m carrying my tag in my back windshield for as long as possible.
JanaZ Hatcher is a sophomore political science major.