Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Pet Peeve #2: those white ovals

Happy New Year, blah blah blah. I was going to write something all about the new year and all that, but I saw something on my way to work that irked me. For some time now I've had a strong dislike for those dumb white oval stickers with the black letters that seem to be spreading like some kind of automotive rash.

I can't stand these things. It was one thing when they used to simply be nationality abbreviations required for inter-European auto travel. My American-centric brain had a hard enough time trying to figure out what the actual abbreviations stood for. You know ... is "LT" Lithuania? or Latvia? (It's the latter).

But things went wrong somewhere. I don't know when it happened exactly. Maybe it was European ex-patriots living here in the States brought their stickers over with them as an expression of national pride some time in the 80s or 90s. Regardless of when the European stickers first landed, it seems to have taken a while before some dumb ass decided that they, too, could make themselves seem hip and European if they just made a similar sticker with their own made-up abbreviation on it.

That's where things started to get out of control. I remember the first time I was staring down an "OBX" sticker trying desperately to figure out what the hell European country that stood for, only to later be told it stood for The Outer Banks beaches of North Carolina. I was actually angry that it had caused me to waste brain power on trying to figure out something nearly impossible to just regularly deduce.

Now there're things like "HMB" for Half Moon Bay, CA or "McM" for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Do they even have cars in Antarctica?!

But, as if that wasn't bad enough, now it's just spread to whatever the hell anyone wants to put in a little oval, whether it references a location or not. The one I saw on the way to work today said "MEOW".

...

That's just so ridiculously removed from the original point as to not make any sense. Yes, we get it. You like your cat. But ...

I dunno. I'm at a loss for words, I guess. I just hate those things so much. This is the only one I can get behind:

FUsticker

3 comments:

EmoRiot said...

Nobody will get why you're mad at them. I'd recommend the following so we can just jump the shark and be done with it.

Plus, it'll take so many to make the full point that you can sell them as a collector's set with instructions.

1.) Start by applying the first decal in the upper left corner of your vehicle, allowing plenty of 'growth room.'
2.) Apply subsequent decals to the right and begin a new row when appropriate.

Bug said...

I love that. It's by far the best one I've ever seen.

You, my friend, have a future in oval design.

rooni said...

Wait, where's the upper left corner of my vehicle?