"AMLEXTASY." "CMPNS8N." "SEEHOX." Often funny, sometimes witty and occasionally naughty -- they're called vanity plates for a reason.They can display one's philosophy, team affiliation, business, hobby, generosity or kiss-off to the world -- all in seven letters.There are 86,700 of them in Washington state.Ken Kotch of Lacey got "REVOLT" for his Ford Escape, a hybrid. He "re-volts" the battery as he drives and wants his car's license plate to show he's revolting against high gas prices."I tell everyone, 'It works on a lot of levels,' " he said in an e-mail responding to The Tacoma News Tribune's request for readers' license-plate stories."WLRSLVR" stands for "walrus lover." John Donovan of Tacoma got it because he used to swim with walruses ET and Rosie when he was the director of the Zoo Run in the early 1980s at Point Defiance.Now he has a collection of more than 500 walrus items -- stuffed, wood, glass, porcelain, wax, metal."I developed a passion for walruses," he said in a recent interview. "They're absolutely wonderful animals. So large but so gentle, with a wonderful spirit about them."Many people have a hard time decoding his plate, Donovan said. They think it has the word "sliver" in it. On one drive, he could see a family struggling to make it out in his mirror. So he pulled alongside them and held up the correct answer.Members of the Tahoma Audubon Society have staked out some of their own: "SCRBJAY," "WETLAND" and "22WPKRS" -- and yes, Rolan Nelson does have 22 woodpeckers, Diane Yorgason-Quinn explained in a recent society newsletter article on personalized plates.Businesses spend a few extra bucks to get them, too.Sprague Pest Solutions of Tacoma outfitted its whole fleet with pest-control references. The technical director is "BUGWIZ," the bespectacled regional manager is "BUGEYED" and the owners sport "BUGBOSS" and "GOTMICE."Steve Webber of Tacoma is a professional organizer and one of the few males in a female-dominated industry, he says. His vanity plate, "ORG-GUY," helps to set him apart. (See, it's not what you dirty-minded folks thought.)Others use the plates to mark important events in their lives.There's a story behind Russ Wilcoxson's plate: "24KMACH." An abbreviation of the term "Mach 1," the speed of sound, it sits just below the 24-karat gold running horse on his screaming-yellow Ford Mustang."I bought the car new on my birthday, Feb. 24, 2004," he said. "I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and really needed something to lift my spirits. I did and I'm a survivor."Vanity plates run the gamut from the sacred to the nearly profane.Judy Snow of Tacoma uses her plate as a reminder. "CTR" comes from the name of a Sunday-school class at her church. It stands for "Choose the Right.""It helps to keep me on the straight and narrow, as it reflects the intent to do what is right, like, not to cut people off, not to succumb to road rage and to generally behave on the road," she said. "It's a reminder to me that I have a choice to do that what is right and I chose to do it. We all need reminders, especially me."One Tacoma man, who did not want his name published, says he'll get rid of his "OJDIDIT" plate when the former NFL star "finds the real killer" of his wife and her boyfriend."I've had many people give thumbs-up and point to the plate," he said.But occasionally complaints about a plate will lead to a push to get it revoked.In 2005, a Spanaway woman complained about Jane Milhans' plate "JOHN3:16," saying she was offended by the plate's biblical message, and prompting a state review. Officials let Milhans keep it.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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