This past weekend, a 25-year-old resident of Springfield, Massachusetts was pulled over by a state trooper on I-391 when he noticed that something was amiss with her license plate. What the trooper would soon find was that, in keeping with the present DIY vogue, Johanna Baez-Rodriguez had made her own license plate out of cardboard, colored pencils, and a can-do crafty attitude.
It’s only natural that, in the Pinterest-fueled trend of doing everything from reupholstering your own ottoman to constructing your own mustache trimmers, this industrious DIY-er would no longer be satisfied going through “legal processes” in order to have a “registered vehicle.” Indeed, homemade legal documents of all kinds are quickly becoming a national sensation.
There’s no need to shell out money for a fake ID when, following a few simple steps at home, you can make your own out of an old receipt, electrical tape, a woolen sock, chia seeds, and a whole lot of rhinestones!
What I admire most about Ms. Baez-Rodrigues, however, is not her artistry or disregard for the law, though both are commendable. J.B.R.’s real virtue is in being true to herself. Maybe her bubble lettering’s not perfect. Maybe she chose a material that disintegrates into pulp when exposed to the elements. J.B.R. couldn’t care less – lamination is for suckers. In the words that she so patriotically inscribed with Crayola onto the bottom of her cardboard canvas, Johanna Baez-Rodrigues truly epitomizes “The spirit of America.” J.B.R., and other DIY renegades like her, are going to craft their legal documents whether you or Massachusetts State Trooper Matthew Guarino like it or not. Because this is America, dammit.