Prestige Symbols
I’ve never really been attracted to them. At least the ones you can’t hold in your hand. Maybe I’m anti-prestige-symbol to a fault. Some academic greek society club-thing once contacted me with the honor of a nomination only to be rebuffed on account of the membership fee: "Lemme get this straight– you want me to pay you to honor me?" I didn’t think of it at the time, but it might’ve been damn good resume fodder. So that was a mistake. I do own a BMW. Because it’s a good car. And I want a Cavalli watch. Both expensive, potentially prestigious in their own way. The names symbols of luxury. I can rationalize costly brands– I’m paying for quality, for design. In both cases, I have an object that I own, which is more about pleasing me than impressing others. Even the clothes I buy… I mean, I want to look nice, but I’m just as likely to wear a flattering Salvation Army skirt as I am a designer. Okay, more likely. The goal is to look good, not to give anybody the false impression that I’m loaded. So it’s not surprising that I can’t get my head around the following cultural tidbit from the Gulf News– my favorite source of "news" and bemusement. I include the entire article. For your pleasure.
Special car number plates fetch Dh3m
The latest car number plate auction held by the Dubai Police Traffic Department on Wednesday fetched Dh3 million.
Brigadier Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of the Traffic Department, said the total value of the auction was Dh3,042,000. The original starting price was Dh1,556,000.
The number 155 topped the list, generating Dh175,000, and number 1963 was auctioned for Dh20,000.
Eighteen three-digit numbers fetched Dh977,000; 15 four-digit numbers were sold for Dh500,000.
Ten special four-digit numbers brought in Dh217,000; and 12 five-digit numbers were sold for Dh178,000 at yesterday’s auction.
Published: 3/9/2005, 07:04 (UAE)
You read it right. The honor of possessing license plate number 155 cost some schmuck $47,683.92! No, really.
Apparently, the lowest numbers are given to the royal family. Number one, for example, must belong to the president of the UAE, his highness Sheikh Khalifa, or in this case, perhaps the sheikh of Dubai, his highness Sheikh Maktoum. So the lower your plate number, the closer, other drivers assume, your relation to a sheikh. This might keep you from flipping the bird should one of these cars (SUVs, as a rule) cut you off at a roundabout. It may also come in handy when allotting fault in an accident. So, okay, somebody wants to look like they’re somebody. I guess I get it…
Other expensive numbers include years, or numbers with patterns in them. The bidding for "special number 40404" started at Dh40,000 ($10,899.18), for example. (Also Gulf News 3/8/2005) These numbers are apparently more aesthetically attractive. Or lucky. A very cursory search indicates that numerology and it’s variations are haram, or "really not cool" in Islam. So they must just be pretty looking. Or people know they’re expensive, so if you have one, you must have money to, uh, waste. Who are these people? According to the Gulf News (3/8), each bidder paid Dh4,000 ($1100) extra on their insurance bill just to participate in the auction. Clearly people who need something to buy.
And where does all this money go? One assumes it goes to fund the Dubai Police, whose website is given in the Gulf News articles. It is definitely worth a look. And why not? Any organization listing their objective as "To drive our vision towards a perceptible reality ‘To make the dream become real’" deserves a grant or a cult following. Thus we support our men in greenish beige. After all, "We are unlike any other Police Force in the world."
Indeed.
