— sent to me by a reader. Thank you!!
Here it is:
“6 Things You Don’t Know About Rhode Island“.
One thing I would add: We are the smallest state with the longest name.
Amusing moments in the piece above:
— the status symbol of having a low number on your license plate. Heh heh heh.
Those who have the good social fortune to drive a car bearing a plate with both their initials and a low number are either very wealthy and/or involved in organized crime.
— Buddy Cianci, our infamous mayor. A convicted felon. But responsible for dragging Providence out of the slums and into prosperity. The man has served 2 prison sentences. His last campaign he ran with this slogan: Buddy Cianci: A Man of Conviction Only in Rhode Island.
— the whole quahog thing. Damn straight. We do not eat clams. We eat quahogs. Narragansett Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
“We are the smallest state with the longest name.”
Only if you count the space; otherwise it and Mississippi are the same length.
RI also has the shortest state motto, and the only one of the three one-word mottos in English, “Hope.” (California = “Eureka,” Greek; NY = “Excelsior,” Latin)
The official name of Rhode Island, Dave, is
“State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”
Yes, I knew that, but forgot.
And I hear they have some mean Christmas tree farms there.
Emily – yeah, with barbed wire fences around them and watchtowers to protect the crops from eco-terrorists.
I only have one comment, DaveJ, about your forgetting momentarily the full name of RI:
The plether’s in the doghouse, bro.
Kind of sums it up. :)
Contrary to popular belief, I do not actually know everything. Just most things. :-p
Dearest: I must object to the canard that only very rich/connected or organized crime capos have initials/low # on license plates in RI. Don’t you recall when everyone in our neighborhood on Paul Ave had these plates? This was a lower middle class neighborhood, with neither riches nor connections. What we had was a bored bodyguard for the Gov., who lived in the neighborhood, who would walk across the street to the registry when the Gov. was in meetings at the Statehouse, and get all of us a prestigious plate. It was very funny to see all of us big shots driving off to work in 10 year old Plymouths and Dodges. RI’s answer to a chicken in every pot. love, dad
I remember when that bored bodyguard was on Letterman cause the police in RI were voted as having the best uniforms. There was even a fashion show.
I love the image of all the Plymouths with Vanity plates on Paul Ave. But, as you know, ours should have read O’M, as opposed to O
Buddy Cianci rules. When I worked in news, we did a story on how he revitalized Providence and I talked to that man on the phone every day for two weeks. He was insane, and so unbeleivably funny. Loved that man.
Up here in New Hampshire (motto: “Hey, pal! That’s YOUR problem!”) we also have the deal with folks having low-numbered license plates. Although one guy I know somehow managed to secure plate no. 100 0000, which to me is considerably more impressive than having a three-digit plate.