In which I anger the locals

by displaying this on my vehicle:











The rivalry between Florida and Georgia is so intense, that now lawmakers are trying to take away my shiny, new UF tag:


House votes to stop out-of-state college plates

By BEN SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Published on: 02/21/08

Georgia House members dumped two things off their plates Thursday: Gators and Tigers.

In a 142 to 10 vote, the chamber voted to stop making out-of-state university mascot tags if neighboring states don't return the favor.

"Whatever is good for the goose is good for the gander," said state Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), speaking with great earnestness on the matter.

Fleming was really talking about Bulldogs. He and the vast majority of his House colleagues think the citizens of the Bulldog nation living in South Carolina, Alabama and Florida, should get mascot tags of their own in those states.

After all, the state of Georgia offers Clemson and Auburn Tiger tags along with those for Florida alumni living in the Peach State.

The Gators fans' response to the House vote was essentially: Grow up.

"Now this is really a joke, isn't it?" said Martha Smith of Norcross. "I've never heard of anything so infantile in my entire life."

Smith, a Georgia Gator tag purchaser said she worked in the University of Florida's athletics department in the 1970s and has a son who attended the institution.

Under the bill, Smith won't have to give up her tag until it needs to be replaced. For Gator alumnus Greg Grillo of Alpharetta, that could be as early as August.

Grillo said he wouldn't be surprised if the Florida Legislature asked for some reciprocity from Georgia on another issue.

Said Grillo, "I heard the Florida Legislature told Georgia to pound salt unless they would allow for Sunday alcohol sales in Georgia."


As of right now, I can only keep my Gator plate until I need to renew in December. Georgia is just determined to continuously irritate me and this is only one more reason why I need to move somewhere else. That, and the law that bans alcohol sales on Sundays. Oh, Florida, how I miss you!

2 comments:

bluesleepy said...

You should move to Virginia, then! (Although you might have the same problem with alcohol sales on Sundays; I haven't been in a state yet that allows it.) I know for a fact there are Gator plates in Virginia. In fact, Virginia has something like over 100 different plates to choose from! Loads of them are for out-of-state schools. They're also cheap to own; back in 2001, they were only $10 more to have one of these plates.

Tracy27 said...

This is hilarious. Such fuss over a graphic on a license plate! I hope you get to keep your gator.