Yesterday on my way to work I noticed one of those little stickers people like to put on the backs of their cars that let the rest of the world know where they’ve been on vacation. You know the stickers I’m talking about, the ones that say OBX, VT, HH (outer banks, Vermont, Hilton Head) in little white ovals outlined in black. The first time I saw one a few years ago I wondered what the OBX on the back of that SUV meant. Then I started to see them everywhere and I wondered what they were and why I was not included in this secret society?

One day I saw one on the back of an acquaintance’s car and I finally had an answer. After, I got up the nerve to ask her, “Karen, what does the OBX on the back of your car mean?” “Oh, that. It’s the outer banks,” she said assuming I understood. A puzzled look came over my face so she quickly added, “North Carolina, my husband’s family has a house down there.” “Oh,” I stammered, “I just wondered, because I’ve seen them everywhere and I…” My voice trailed off as all the other exotic places I’ve seen on the backs of vehicles popped into my head.

It all suddenly started to make sense to me, VT, Vermont, ME, Maine; the world had opened up to me. The next day as I made my way to one of my mundane destinations, I found myself examining bumpers and rear windows. That guy in the red pick-up truck never goes anywhere, no stickers and that family in the minivan they never go anywhere, but the woman in the shiny Lexus, she goes to HH. I wondered if her husband’s family had a house down there.

I live on the east coast, outside Philadelphia, and lately I’ve notice stickers that immortalize our local beaches; LBI, AV, WW, I guess if you can drive there you can put a sticker on the back of your car, for that matter if you live there you can put a sticker on your car. (BUX)

I wonder, do people in other countries put little stickers on their cars, too or is this strictly an American thing? Do the Irish have DUB on their bumpers? I’ve never been anywhere, so I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that this not.