Bad message to send

[BroadHopper]

Social media is an extremely powerful tool today. Many pollsters feels that was what elected Obama in the last election, he uses social media as a voting tool when the republicians did not.

There are a group of lakefront owners who whiches the boating population to go away and make the lake their 'Golden Pond'. The infamous SL law is a perfect example of this and they are very proud of it. Unfortunately the boating industry and the hospitality industry also felt it and it is not good.

More fall out from this results in boating and tourists magazines dropping the Lakes Region down in top destination rankings. Our neighboring states sre enjoying increases in tourist dollars while NH declines.

While I did state I am not in favor of folks moving up here and bringing their 'dirty laundry', I never said tourists are not welcome here. The majority of the tourists are great and like all crowds there are a few that spoil it for all.

And this few are like criminals, they enjoy the 'media hype' of their outcome.

[WakeboardMom]

We have had vanity plates since moving to NH in 1983. We usually register two cars and a work truck; plus various cars belonging to my kids...so that's a lot of vanity plates in a 30-year span. It's only recently that we've been seriously questioned by the clerk at town hall for an explanation of each request.

They turned down my "fnfunfn" (Fun Fun Fun) plate for what, in retrospect, is an obvious reason.

This plate doesn't have bad language, but when taken at face value, it seems to have a negative message. Someone said the plate is at least 10 years old... I wonder if it would pass the state's current "sniff test?" It might not be allowed if they apply your mother's rule of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

[knittaplz]

Originally Posted by WakeboardMom

This plate doesn't have bad language, but when taken at face value, it seems to have a negative message. Someone said the plate is at least 10 years old... I wonder if it would pass the state's current "sniff test?" It might not be allowed if they apply your mother's rule of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

My mom taught us to not be afraid of speaking our minds. Who decides what is 'nice' enough for a license plate. As long as it isn't outright offensive, who cares?

[WakeboardMom]

Originally Posted by knittaplz

My mom taught us to not be afraid of speaking our minds. Who decides what is 'nice' enough for a license plate. As long as it isn't outright offensive, who cares?

I agree. I always speak my mind, unless it's something that's better off unsaid. (Usually my husband lets me know...! ; )

I think the plate could be interpreted as offensive, which is what sparked this interesting discussion.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by WakeboardMom

I agree. I always speak my mind, unless it's something that's better off unsaid. (Usually my husband lets me know...! ; )

I think the plate could be interpreted as offensive, which is what sparked this interesting discussion.

It was interpreted as offensive. I just thought I would point it out to everyone. My livelihood is not dependent on tourism.

The fact that the owner of the plate doesn't have an explanation for the plate speaks volumes. Yes, yes, I know she doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation, but perhaps the Maine tourism bureau would love to use the plate for their new ad campaign. Picture this:

Glossy paper in AAA magazines, visitor brochures, and online ads.

Why
GOHOME (picture of the plate)
Come
VISITME (picture of a Maine plate)

Maybe a huge billboard in Mass could sport that ad as people drove north prior to them getting on I-93.

[wuwu]

I do have an explanation for this plate, I just believe its not a concern of yours!
Lighten up
Laugh
Live free

[Shreddy]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

It was interpreted as offensive. I just thought I would point it out to everyone. My livelihood is not dependent on tourism.

The fact that the owner of the plate doesn't have an explanation for the plate speaks volumes. Yes, yes, I know she doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation, but perhaps the Maine tourism bureau would love to use the plate for their new ad campaign. Picture this:

Glossy paper in AAA magazines, visitor brochures, and online ads.

Why
GOHOME (picture of the plate)
Come
VISITME (picture of a Maine plate)

Maybe a huge billboard in Mass could sport that ad as people drove north prior to them getting on I-93?

Think, people. Think.

You've buried yourself. You're the one who is shooting yourself in the foot now and looks negative. You are NOTHING BUT NEGATIVE and had nothing positive to bring to the table here other than to bash someone you don't know based on assumption. Someone who has kindly laughed about the situation and given you a response. What are you trying to get at? What more are you trying accomplish other than making yourself look more and more like a ____________ Give it up...admit that that you were wrong and show some maturity.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by Shreddy

You've buried yourself. You're the one who is shooting yourself in the foot now and looks negative. You are NOTHING BUT NEGATIVE and had nothing positive to bring to the table here other than to bash someone you don't know based on assumption. Someone who has kindly laughed about the situation and given you a response. What are you trying to get at? What more are you trying accomplish other than making yourself look more and more like a ____________ Give it up...admit that that you were wrong and show some maturity.

In retrospect my original reply was snotty which was why I did edit it. However, I am not wrong in that this area had a visitor that was offended by a perceived negative plate.

Ok, I am off to smash my computer now.

[Scott's Yott]

Ya get a life or stay in ur 1,000,000 lake house(go home)

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

In retrospect my original reply was snotty which was why I did edit it. However, I am not wrong in that this area had a visitor that was offended by a perceived negative plate.

Ok, I am off to smash my computer now.

Someone who is *truly* offended by something so simple as a single license plate has much bigger issues going on. Especially when this plate is one of most likely 1,000 things they would see and experience on their visit, with the other 999 items most likely being quite positive.

It's already been pointed out that the plate doesn't mean what your visitor apparently thought it meant. However, even if it DID literally mean "Go home, you nasty tourist", people ARE entitled to their opinions. Also, there ARE many people in the lakes region who have been residents since long long before it was the highly popular tourist area it is now. It's quite possible some of those people might prefer the "old" region, with less tourism, they are certainly entitled to their beliefs.

Basically, your visitor needs a damn hobby...

[Chaselady]

This whole thread is an example of how people love to jump all over each other.

[Pineedles]

You would think that its mid-January and everyone has cabin fever, reading this thread.

[sluggo]

This thread is funny as hell ! I vacationed here for over twenty years before I moved here full time. It took five years before the locals even warmed up to me and when they found out I didn't want to change anything with my property or the way of life up here I was accepted with open arms. Now I come from Massachusetts originally and I have a better education than most but since I have lived here people that I work with that are seasonal here have referred to me as a dumb hick , an under educated moron , red neck , simple minded and I can go on and on. Don't get me wrong I meet a lot of really nice people but on the other hand I really don't understand the upper attitude people take when they come up here and the way we are looked down upon. I am older now so I could care less so I just laugh about it now but if I could fit ( cant wait till Columbus day ) on my license plate I would !!!

[BroadHopper]

Some folks thinks the motto is insulting, see below.

In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, that the State of New Hampshire could not prosecute motorists who chose to hide part or all of the motto. That ruling came about because George Maynard, a Jehovah's Witness, covered up "or die" from his plate. "By religious training and belief, I believe my 'government' – Jehovah's Kingdom – offers everlasting life. It would be contrary to that belief to give up my life for the state, even if it meant living in bondage." Pursuant to these beliefs, the Maynards began early in 1974 to cover up the motto on their license plates.
He was convicted of breaking a state law against altering license plates.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in his favor and likened Maynard's refusal to accept the state motto with the Jehovah’s Witness children refusing to salute the American flag in public school in the 1943 decision West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.
"We begin with the proposition that the right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment against state action includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all,” Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote for the majority in Maynard.
"Here, as in Barnette, we are faced with a state measure which forces an individual, as part of his daily life indeed constantly while his automobile is in public view to be an instrument for fostering public adherence to an ideological point of view he finds unacceptable.
"The fact that most individuals agree with the thrust of New Hampshire’s motto is not the test; most Americans also find the flag salute acceptable," Burger wrote.
The Supreme Court concluded that the state’s interests paled in comparison to individuals’ free-expression rights.

[SteveA]

.. wouldn't fit on the license plate.

Gen.John Stark, the hero of the Battle of Bennington, had to decline an invatation to the 32nd celebration of that battle due to poor health.

The last line in his letter, explaning why he couldn't make the event, he proposed that the men at the event, say as a toast "Live Free Or Die; Death is Not The Worst of Evils.". The rest as they say, was history.. The New Hampshire legistrator adopted that toast as the official state motto in 1945.

[dave603]

I was born and raised in Mass., have lived in N.H. for 35 years now, after spending time in NY, Conn., Texas, Colorado, and places outside the U.S. in the service and for jobs.
I moved here because it was what I wanted for me and the family, the way of life.
I resent those that do come here to "get away" from the way things were from where they were at, and then try to make it the same way as it was there.
So all and all, I can see and somewhat agree with what the plate says.

But I also see where the money to support the state infastructure has to come from to support it.
That says, although you may not like them, they are needed for us to be they way we are.

JUST DON'T LET THEM CHANGE ANYTHING!

[diz]

Originally Posted by dave603

I was born and raised in Mass., have lived in N.H. for 35 years now, after spending time in NY, Conn., Texas, Colorado, and places outside the U.S. in the service and for jobs.
I moved here because it was what I wanted for me and the family, the way of life.
I resent those that do come here to "get away" from the way things were from where they were at, and then try to make it the same way as it was there.
So all and all, I can see and somewhat agree with what the plate says.

But I also see where the money to support the state infastructure has to come from to support it.
That says, although you may not like them, they are needed for us to be they way we are.

JUST DON'T LET THEM CHANGE ANYTHING!

I'm in a similar situation to nj2nh. My family has split their time between Mass. and the Lakes Region for 30 years. My wife and I recently bought our own home in Laconia because we enjoy life here, NOT because we're looking to change things. It's disappointing to hear the opinion that all out-of-staters have an agenda. My wife and I like it up here and that's why we invested in a home here. It's that simple. We enjoy our new friends and neighbors. That's enough for us.

[WakeboardMom]

It's easy to say, "Don't change anything," but you do understand that the only constant in life is change...right...? And you do understand that the only way that NH can truly sustain itself is to finally, in some way, enact some type of broad-based tax...yes?

[Irish mist]

Originally Posted by WakeboardMom

It's easy to say, "Don't change anything," but you do understand that the only constant in life is change...right...? And you do understand that the only way that NH can truly sustain itself is to finally, in some way, enact some type of broad-based tax...yes?

NO. Every state that has added an income tax has never seen the total tax burden in the state go down.....ever ! The government will just spend more. God; do you people never learn ? I don't understand the attraction of changing NH to Massachusetts-north or Vermont-east ?

Mass just raised taxes another half a billion dollars. VT has sky-high taxes & yet both states often can't balance their budgets.....it's the same endless cycle. Until about 10 or 15 years ago most NH residents understood the value of a low-tax state.....theses day, I'm afraid, not so much.

NH has no death tax, no capital gains tax, no income tax, no general sales tax.....and we are supposed to give this up, for what.....to become another Massachusetts, another Vermont, or California with its tens of billions of dollars in debt & its 13.3% income tax ?

Sorry for the politics folks.....I understand the owner does not like it & I have cut way back over the years in posting political stuff, but man, sometimes

[HomeWood]

I'm a little worried about what NH might turn into by the time I'm ready to retire and move there.

[Ropetow]

Originally Posted by WakeboardMom

It's easy to say, "Don't change anything," but you do understand that the only constant in life is change...right...? And you do understand that the only way that NH can truly sustain itself is to finally, in some way, enact some type of broad-based tax...yes?

Thankfully, the majority of our political and civic leaders, not to mention year-round residents do not agree with your line of thinking. That's the great thing about America...we have the freedom of movement. If one wants to live in a state with broad-based taxes, has streets paved with gold, free milk and honey for everyone, and no financial worries at all, then one can move there.

Proof that the majority of NH residents do not agree with you? Who was the last NH Governor to be elected without taking The Pledge?

[Billy Bob]

Originally Posted by Ropetow

Thankfully, the majority of our political and civic leaders, not to mention year-round residents do not agree with your line of thinking. That's the great thing about America...we have the freedom of movement. If one wants to live in a state with broad-based taxes, has streets paved with gold, free milk and honey for everyone, and no financial worries at all, then one can move there.

Proof that the majority of NH residents do not agree with you? Who was the last NH Governor to be elected without taking The Pledge?

Seems a lot of folks seem to prefer The Mass way of doing things , population over 6 million , 852 people per sq mile , population increase 1.6 % in last 2 years vs NH with only 1.3 million , a density of 147 per sq mile , 5 th lowest population increase in the country and an average age that is increasing dramatically. if you get away from the lake and see how the locals live in Laconia and Keene it's far from Heaven. It's amazing the number of folks that make their money in the south ,retire to NH and then complain about the place ( MA ) that made it possible for them to move to their idea of Heaven . however we are comparing apples and oranges

[RLW]

Originally Posted by dave603

I was born and raised in Mass., have lived in N.H. for 35 years now, after spending time in NY, Conn., Texas, Colorado, and places outside the U.S. in the service and for jobs.
I moved here because it was what I wanted for me and the family, the way of life

I resent those that do come here to "get away" from the way things were from where they were at, and then try to make it the same way as it was there.
So all and all, I can see and somewhat agree with what the plate says.

But I also see where the money to support the state infastructure has to come from to support it.
That says, although you may not like them, they are needed for us to be they way we are.

JUST DON'T LET THEM CHANGE ANYTHING!

. dave603, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Thanks for your post.