Here's one for the "as if there aren't enough more important things to get upset about" file. . .
Alabama's changing to a new state license plate, starting next year (and lasting until 2014). Personally, I welcome some change, because I've never been crazy about the "Stars Fell on Alabama" one we have now. (But Andy Rooney can still just keep his grumpy opinions about it to himself, as far as I'm concerned. Look, dude, it's a song [and a novel] based on a [locally] famous meteor shower. Go find something else to gripe about, ok? . . .I find it amusing to refer to elderly grumps as "dudes". One of those little joys that mercifully abound in life!)
So, anyway, the new plate will feature a beach scene and the words "Sweet Home Alabama". Evidently a tourism official from the northern part of the state feels that the plate should have included their mountains, too.
But. . . wouldn't that make it look like we have beaches and mountains in the same place? (We don't. Mountains are in the north, beaches are down here on the coastal plain.) And even if you could figure a way to get them both on the same plate, mightn't they look a bit cramped?
In a way, I feel sorry for Mr. Mountain-Tourism. It must be hard, knowing that most tourists (if they think of Alabama at all) think of our state's beaches. Then there's the painful fact that most Southeastern mountain-seekers (including those in my own family) aren't satisfied with what Alabama has to offer, and prefer to go further into Appalachia. But please, try to remember that this is just a license plate. Truly, it's not that big of a deal.
And maybe, someday, we'll have one with a picture of a mountain on it. But only if you behave yourself in the meantime. ;o)
