Lately, I've been riding the bus to work more and driving in a lot less. When gas is $2.50 a gallon and parking is $3.50 a day, the (mostly) free bus pass goes from a nice idea in theory to a massive money-saver.
Riding the bus means that I get to look at the scenery rather than the sticker-covered late-model Volvo in front of me. Also, I finally get interrupted time to read again. (I'm not aliterate; I just don't read books all that often anymore. Almost all my reading is online.)
The other day, though, I looked out the bus window as it pulled up to a stoplight and spied a car of non-descript make (unless it's a Beetle or an Aztek the modern car is going to be non-descript) with Florida plates. Instead of "Florida" across the top of the tag, though, it said "MyFlorida.com," which is baffling, since the last I looked Florida was still a US state.
At that exact moment I was reading "Web Design On A Shoestring" by Carrie Bickner. One of the things she discusses is her dislike of starting web site section titles with "My." Unfortunately, the book isn't readily at hand, being that's it's sitting on my desk at work, so I can't pull out the section of the book to quote. The point is that it's clutter (think how much easier News, Sports, Weather is to read as a list compared to MyNews, MySports, MyWeather) and it seems silly to call something "mine" when you don't personally own it or have a personal connection with it.
I don't feel any connection with Florida. It's down... there. Bottom right. Disney World. Devil Rays. Manatees. Whoopee. Been there once in my life and didn't feel good or bad about it.
I don't own any part of it, either. Why would the state use this ludicrious marketing shorthand on their tags when more than 90% of the country isn't going to warm to the concept of possessing Florida?
And it's a .com, too. And that seems appropriate. Dotcoms were bastions of unreality, filled with events and people blown way out of proportion, personalities loaded down with pretense and self-importance, and an underlying sense that they were better than the rest of the world despite not having anything to show for it once the hurricane hit. Mix in some butterfly ballots, Cuban children trying to go back to Havana against the will of the greater local Cuban population, and a crazed family of a woman in a persistent vegetative state, and you either end up with a spot-on description of Florida, or the business model of MyLackey.com (RIP, 2000).
All said, while the Florida tags are overblown marketing crap, at least they aren't offering specialty tags for people who are MIA or KIA like the state of my youth is. Which tag would be scarier to see on the car in front of you, the one advising you the driver isn't at the wheel, or the one indicating the driver is of the undead and, in the event of an accident, will likely request to see your insurance card and to feast on your brains?
Comments
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"the driver is of the undead and, in the event of an accident, will likely request to see your insurance card and to feast on your brains?"
"my license only says I'll donate my organs when I'm dead!"
"don't worry, no one has survived this yet"And as for the state of our youth (forgetting that my youth was in a pretty bad state wherever it was), didn't we see the writing on the wall when towns would divorce themselves of association with our state, like "Jenks, America"?
Posted by: Chris Collins | April 29, 2005 07:41 AM
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OK! KIA! Reminds me of the funny sneeze post: http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000351.php
Florida is less a state and more a marketing engine. Everything down there is about hiding the numerous rednecks and promoting tourism. Lived there for a while - very messed up place. Florida.com makes much more sense then Florida.gov (which has overly negative associations because of their massive incompitence)
Posted by: ben | April 29, 2005 08:46 AM
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I think "Jenks, America" was because they believed that they were that much better than everyone else in the area. And they still believe that, you know.
Kind of like being top dung beetle on the cow patty, IMO.
Posted by: dw | April 29, 2005 04:57 PM
