We all love a good cheeky license plateĀ when we see one.Ā Sometimes, you just need a laugh while on the road. At least, that was what Rochester, New Hampshire, momĀ Wendy Auger was thinking when she ordered her vanity plate "PB4WEGO" (Pee before we go) 15 years ago. But now, lawmakers are trying to take away her license plate for being inappropriate, and she's not too thrilled about it.
The problem started in early August, when Auger received a letter in the mail telling her she was no longer allowed to keep her vanity plate.
Still ticked about it two weeks later, Auger took to her blog, MomDotCalm, and vented about the whole ordeal.
_"_My vanity plate was being recalled and I had to surrender my PB4WEGO plates to the local DMV within ten days," she shared in the August 29 post. "Because it included sexual or excretory (thatās a new word I have added to my vocabulary) acts or functions. For real??!! "Ā Ā
In case you missed it, the tongue-in-cheek plate stands for "Pee before we go," a common phrase parents say to their kids before heading out on long car rides. Auger was dumbfounded why such an innocent little joke could be misconstrued to be inappropriate. And she was furious that the plate she's had for more than 15 years was suddenly being taken away.
"Peeing is now somehow offensive!" she sounded off. "Especially when you are telling your child that so you donāt have to stop at the gas station two miles down the road ā¦ a phrase I said commonly starting 25 years ago and on ā¦ hence the plate I got 15 years ago (when NH expanded license plates to 7 characters)."
āIām not the type to sit here with a picket, but come on,ā she later toldĀ People.
Auger also noted that for the many years she's had the plate, she's always gotten a positive reaction from fellow drivers — often they'd honk their horn or smile.
āIt would just stink if I donāt have it anymore," she said. "If I have to take it off the plate, then Iām not going to be able to live free," she added, making reference to the state's motto, "Live Free or Die."
That's why the mom decided to fight back against the decision, and her story has since gone viral.
Auger's first step was to write a letter to the supervisor of the Bureau of Registration at the DMV.
"I decided to just ask to keep my plate," she wrote. "Because itās not offensive and itās my right." But she was told her complaint was sent to the legal department and then she never heard back.
It turns out, Auger was one of 92 motorists in New Hampshire to be notified that their vanity plate was being recalled, People reports. And although a rep from the New Hampshire DMV said that it only recalls license plates āwhen they do not conform to legal requirements," Auger took the ban personally.Ā
"I felt this recall was so absurd and uncalled for," she continued. "After a few days with no word, I contacted the local newspaper and asked if they were interested in hearing about the story. They were."
Auger's story spread far and wide across the internet until finally, on August 28, she got the news she'd been waiting for.
On her Facebook page, Auger triumphantly announced that her hard work had paid off.
On August 28, the momĀ shared on Facebook that Governor Chris Sununu reached out to her and told her that the whole thing had been a "little bureaucratic hold up." Despite some pushback, Sununu told Auger that "common sense prevailed."
"I spoke to the commissioner and we agreed completely that we are just going to move forward," he continued, "and we are gonna get your plates."
Despite the victory, Auger said it was somewhat bittersweet to see all of her hard work be ridiculed online.Ā
"As I was reading through some of the comments, it was disheartening to read so many negative people out there who are ridiculing the whole situation and poking fun at how much media this story has gotten," she said. "Then poking at the governor because he has more pressing things to deal with."
But to Auger, the issue was about more than just a measly old license plate. To her, it was more about her rights being infringed upon.Ā
"They passed some law and somehow I fit into that category and now something that I own, that has been the cause of so many innocent laughs and genuine smiles, is being deemed offensive or vulgar and now I canāt have it," she wrote.Ā
"I wasnāt going to let that happen," she added. "And even if the governor didnāt step in, I hope that I would have had the same outcome."
"Live pee or die," she wrote.
(Now only if THAT could get put on a license plate.)
