Aloha

This is the novelty license plate on the front of my car. I've had it for a long time; it was a gift from my dad when I first started driving.

Understand that I'm originally from Oklahoma, and now I live in Arizona, and although I have been there, I have never ever in my lifetime lived in, or driven a car from, Hawaii.

But I keep the plate because it makes people say funny things.

Recently, some dude gave me the "hang ten" hand in the parking lot of Home Depot.

And there have been other moments, too:

"You don't see many cars from there around here."

"How much did it cost to ship your car over?"

"Surf's up!"

I think some people would become a teeny bit embarrassed or disappointed when I had to explain, "Oh, my license plate? Oh, no, sorry, it's just for fun."

But no more. At some point I began playing along.

"You don't see many cars from there around here."
"I know! This one's a long way from home, huh?"

"How much did it cost to ship your car over?"
"Nothing, actually. My family owns Hawaiian airlines."

"Surf's up!"
"Yeah! Hang ten, man!"

So basically, what I'm saying is that novelty state license plates are good conversation-starters and you, too, should get one in order to witness an interesting experiment in social science firsthand.

Photo by Sway Sovay