Loophole

Oh, so this is why I tucked that California license plate from almost 20 years ago in a box and carried it with me through countless moves! Also, 7 other things worth your time.

It’s funny when you move somewhere and the very little things stick out.

The small linguistic differences, for example—maybe they call soda, “pop,” or they refer to a “bubblah” as a “water fountain.”

(Kind of kidding about that last one. I grew up in Rhode Island, which is probably the only place in the world where they call a water fountain a “bubbler,” although it sounds more like “bubblah” with the accent.)

Anyway, when I lived in Los Angeles for a year, basically 2001-2002, one of the little things that I couldn’t get over was the fact that you’d see cars on the highway (sorry, “the freeway”) without license plates.

As of 2019, apparently, this is no longer the case. But it’s the explanation for two enduring stories about how Steve Jobs.

Actually, second story explains the first.

Story 1

There are three characters. I’m going to refer to them like this:

• Steve Jobs as “Steve Jobs” or “Jobs,”

• his daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs as “Lisa,” and

• Lisa’s mother, “Chrisann Brennan,” as Chrisann.

Otherw…