Los Angeles, California
My father was not a police officer like my friend Max's father. But he was a strong believer in law and order. I went through my own times (mostly my difficult teenaged years) rebelling against law, order, and rules of any kind. I came of age at a time when schools dictated the length of the guys' hair as well as the length of us girls' skirts. It was a time of mini-skirts. They actually made us get on our knees as our dresses or skirts were supposed to touch the ground in that position. What craziness.
I clearly remember a long ago friend of mine, who was editor of the school newspaper and had obtained a scholarship to UC Berkeley, being pulled out of the waiting-to-be-marching line at our commencement celebration, because his hair was too long. After the Boy's VP moved on, we called to our friend to get back into line with us. He uttered the memorable line: Fuck it, I'm going to see Hendrix. The weekend we graduated, there was a rock festival in the Valley and Jimi Hendrix was performing that night.
Now, years have passed and I am no longer rebellious against law and order. I understand that there is a good reason for rules and that understanding comes from seeing so many people feeling entitled to not obey them. Our world has become a free-for-all when it comes to driving; behavior at concerts, on airplanes, on dance floors, in church. Everyone seems attuned to the beat of their own drum which clearly pounds out a message that they should go ahead and do whatever they feel like. I could illustrate many examples here, but won't. I just want to stress that I obey rules and laws. I think it's vitally important to a civilized society that we all do.
However... I drive a Tesla 3. It's my second one, and like the first one I purchased in 2018, I have not attached a front license plate. Now, I'm not the only one driving around in a Tesla without the front plate. I would say that here in LA, my rough estimate would be that at least thirty percent of drivers of all makes of cars have not put that plate on the front of their car. Why, you might ask. Well, for me, one of the things I love about the 3 is that it is very unornamented. There's just not a lot of stuff. No dashboard, just a screen. And the outside of the car, especially the front, is clean and streamlined with no grill nor ornamentation of any kind. But it's not just that model of Tesla, I see LOTS of other makes of cars driving around without front plates. Again, I'm guessing about 30% or more. So I got especially irked when last week I was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer and issued a citation for not having a front plate. Ok, yes, I realize the California Vehicle Code requires that we have plates front and back. But, again, a whole lot of people are not doing that. What a whole lot of people are doing is speeding, driving very recklessly, and running traffic signals. In fact, where Mr. Chips pulled me over, he could have watched people running the light at the intersection while he was running my license and registration! But no, he was too busy writing a citation to a very polite driver with a clean record who he complimented on being "respectful" to him. My brain was screaming What the fuck is this jerk's problem?!? But I smiled, thanked him for alerting me to the law, took the citation, and muttered asshole as he walked away.
Let's go back. I am so not a scofflaw. I don't like that I have to compost my garbage, an ordinance that started last year. But I do it. I brake for stop signs (which frankly, no one else does in the neighborhood where I reside). I'm a good citizen in almost every respect. But, I don't want a fucking license plate on the front of my aesthetically pleasing Tesla 3. And it annoys me that I will need to put it on and take myself to an LAPD station to have my citation cleared, while most other Tesla 3 drivers are driving their cars with clean fronts. It makes me mad as hell, but, I'll do it. I'm just not going to commit to what I will do with that plate after I do it. Know what I mean? Get the picture? And the (license plate) frame?
