I've got an eye for car registration plates. I do notice them, and always have done. So when travelling westwards on the dual-carriageway A27 past Old Shoreham this morning I couldn't help seeing that just ahead of my grey Volvo car Sophie (OO15 SHE) was a white Kia car with registration OO15 ZZZ.
How likely is it that two OO15 plates should ever meet each other? And two obviously personalised plates at that? Very unlikely, I'd say.
If it had been a car park situation, I would have most certainly approached the other driver to have a friendly conversation, and perhaps move the cars together for a picture we could both share. They might even have come over to me first. I'm not the only one on the planet who has a thing about unusual number plates.
Only a couple of weeks ago, I was walking back to where I'd left Sophie in a car park, only to see a man standing in front of her, grinning broadly to himself, apparently taking a photo. (His car was next to mine, and I saw later that it had an ordinary plate - so I was pretty certain it was my plate that had caught his attention) His smile vanished as he realised that the 'SHE' must be me, and that I might not be pleased at his snapping my pride and joy. He quickly moved off, embarrassed I thought. But of course his concern was groundless. I'd have only been too happy to discuss the subject of car registration plates if he'd lingered. And let him shoot Sophie's plate to his heart's content.
But as regards OO15 ZZZ, the white Kia, we were zooming along at 70 mph and no jolly chit-chat was possible. All I could do was slowly overtake, so that the Kia's driver could observe Sophie and her plate, and have a chance to respond if they so wished. I wondered who the driver was, and what (if anything) they might do. A swift sideways glance - all I could safely risk - revealed a slim silhouette that might have been feminine. But I wasn't at all sure. He or she didn't react. No wave. No toot with the horn. No flash. Nothing at all. Most likely they were entirely absorbed in their private thoughts, and cared nothing for passing grey Volvos, even those with with personalised plates. Never mind.
I expect that as with my own plate, OO15 ZZZ was purchased for being distinctive and easy-to-remember. It was certainly that. Even so, it wouldn't be my own choice: I wouldn't want the police to suspect I was habitually asleep at the wheel, and perhaps follow me to make sure that I was in fact properly alert. They do tend to think the worst.
