Custom license plates

Sometimes... I don't even bother to waste my time shooting a license plate that does not appear to have some special meaning, however, something just told me that the plate on the back of this immaculate Jet Black two door Mercedes convertible might just yield an interesting back story - and in the end, there WAS quite the story to be had!

It was well worth the 15 minute wait for "Mark," the owner, to return to his vehicle, parked in the local grocery store parking lot.

Once I saw Mark, I promptly got out of my car and introduced myself, explaining my interest in custom vanity plates, and telling him a little about blip. I asked Mark if HIS plate had a story.... and he kind of chuckled, and said: "the story might not be appropriate for the internet."

Not a problem I assured him, I can make it appropriate, and so Mark agreed to tell his story.

Over thirty years ago, Mark was in the Coast Guard, and stationed on the downtown Seattle waterfront. He had a buddy from the Midwest who was "pretty conservative" according to Mark, and one weekend they decided to go visit Alki Beach (West Seattle) in the middle of summer to go drink beer and check out the babe's on the beach.

After they returned back to the base later that evening, Mark's buddy said he was going to nickname Mark "Poke" - because his buddy told Mark, that he seems to want to p*** every good looking girl that he sees :)

And today, Mark told me that this nickname has stuck for the past THIRTY years. Mark's girlfriend bought him the set of custom plates after he finally told her the story about how he acquired his nickname. Mark also told me that his son attended the University of Washington, hence, the custom UW plate theme.

Lesson learned?... even the most mundane plate can often times have a very interesting back story :)


Thanks for a great story Mark!