This NY Grandpa Fought the DMV Over a Dad Joke and Won

Sometimes the universe hands us a story so perfectly harmless, so aggressively wholesome, and so deeply rooted in dad-joke culture that it feels almost unreal.

This is one of those stories.

A Long Island grandpa recently found himself in an unexpected battle with the New York State DMV after his longtime vanity license plate was suddenly revoked. After more than five years on the road, the plate was flagged as “no longer in compliance.”

A Harmless Dad Joke That Somehow Became a Problem

The DMV pulled the plug on his "PB4WEGO" plate, forcing its owner to swap the dad-joke plate for a soulless string of random letters and numbers. A true tragedy. Because honestly, it feels wild, considering it translates to one of the most universal parenting phrases of all time: pee before we go.

Instead of quietly accepting defeat, the grandpa decided to take his case straight to Kathy Hochul, asking the governor to step in and bring common sense back into the conversation.

And, she did.

Dad Jokes Win: NY Grandpa Gets His “PB4WEGO” Plate Reinstated

If we can’t laugh at a silly bathroom joke that every parent on earth has said at least 4,000 times, what are we even doing?

The whole saga became a gentle reminder that not everything needs to be overanalyzed, overregulated, or stripped of personality. Some things are just meant to be light. Some things are just meant to make people smile. Some things are just dad jokes living their best lives.

Even better: the grandpa had already planned to frame the plates and hang them in his bathroom if the appeal failed.

So the next time you’re stuck behind a car with a goofy vanity plate, take a second to appreciate it. Life is heavy enough. We deserve a few dumb jokes on the highway. (Looking at you DOT)

Upstate New York Road Trip! 120 Miles Along Beautiful I-88

This roadtrip gallery takes us along the east-west Interstate I-88, which runs about 120 miles from just outside of Binghamton to just outside of Schenectady. This gallery highlights 16 places to mark down in your journey journal to check out. Places to eat, to enjoy, and to learn from. The trip goes (west to east) through beautiful areas of Upstate New York's mid-section, through parts of Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Schoharie and the edge of Schenectady Counties. Halfway through the trip you will go through the largest city along the highway, Oneonta, and several tiny villages like Afton, Bainbridge, and Unadilla. All have stories to tell.

All of these 16 stops are either on, just off, or no more than 10 miles from I-88. So prepare to take a little roadtrip along one of the Empire State's most beautiful highways, in all four seasons, the Warren Anderson Expressway, also known as I-88.

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio