We all appreciate a good witty licence plate when we see one. Maybe all you need is a good chuckle while driving. That’s what Rochester, New Hampshire, parent Wendy Auger was thinking 15 years ago when she bought her vanity plate “PB4WEGO” (Pee before we go). However, politicians are now attempting to take away her licence plate for being improper, which she is not happy about.
The issue began in early August, when Auger got a letter in the mail informing her that she was no longer permitted to maintain her vanity plate. Auger came to her blog, MomDotCalm, two weeks later, still irritated, and raged about the entire experience. “My vanity plate was being recalled, and I had ten days to submit my PB4WEGO plates to the local DMV,” she explained in the August 29 message. “Because it involved sexual or excretory (a new term to my lexicon) behaviours or functions. Are you serious?!!”
The tongue-in-cheek plate stands for “Pee before we leave,” a popular statement parents say to their children before embarking on long vehicle drives. Auger was perplexed as to how such a harmless little joke could be perceived as rude. And she was enraged that the plate she’d had for almost 15 years was abruptly being removed.
She further added “Peeing is suddenly somewhat offensive! Especially when you’re telling your youngster that so you don’t have to stop at the gas station two miles down the road… a phrase I used to use all the time starting 25 years ago and on… thus the plate I obtained 15 years ago (when New Hampshire enlarged licence plates to 7 characters).” Auger also mentioned that during the years she’s had the plate, she’s generally had a nice reaction from other cars, who often honked their horns or smiled.
That’s why the mother chose to fight back, and her story has now gone viral. Auger’s initial move was to write a letter to the Bureau of Registration supervisor at the DMV. She expressed that she just asked to keep her plate. Since it’s not insulting and she has the right to do so. However, she was assured that her complaint had been forwarded to the legal department, but she never heard anything.
Auger was one of 92 New Hampshire drivers who were alerted that their vanity plate was being reviewed. And, despite the fact that a representative from the New Hampshire DMV stated that licence plates are only recalled “when they do not correspond to legal criteria,”
Auger took the restriction personally. She went on. to say that she thought this recall was ludicrous and uncalled for. After a few days of silence she phoned the local media to see if they were interested in hearing about the tale and they certainly were. Auger’s tale spread like wildfire over the internet until, on August 28, she received the news she’d been waiting for.
Auger proudly revealed on her Facebook page that her hard work had paid off. The mother posted on Facebook that Governor Chris Sununu had contacted her and informed her that the entire situation had been a “small administrative hold up.” Sununu told Auger that “common sense won” despite some dissent. He said that he had spoken with the commissioner, and they absolutely agreed that they are just going to move on and they are going to get the plates.
Governor Sununu messaged me earlier today. In his message, which has been confirmed through various media outlets……
Posted by Wendy Lee Auger on Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Although she won, Auger admitted that seeing all of her hard work mocked online was bittersweet. She stated as she looked through some of the comments that it was depressing to read so many nasty individuals out there who are criticising the entire issue and mocking fun at how much exposure this story has gotten. Then poke at the governor since he has more serious matters to attend to.
However, according to Auger, the matter was about more than simply a rogue licence plate. It was more about her rights being violated. She wrote that they enacted some rule, and somehow she fell into that group, and now something she owns, that has caused so many innocent laughter and genuine smiles, is being judged obscene or filthy, and she can’t keep it. She wasn’t going to let it happen. And she hoped that even if the governor hadn’t intervened, she would have gotten the same result.
“It’s either live pee or die,” she wrote.
