# Out on the road today, I saw a "MENGELE" license plate on a pickup truck **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610 "2021-09-29T22:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/41 "2021-09-30T18:02:52Z")
If questioned by the clerk, I would’ve said “Oh, it’s just my favorite song…” and start singing: _ **Me ‘N’ Gele** Down By The Schoolyard_ . . . 🎵 right there in the DMV. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/42 "2021-09-30T18:08:14Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > But it made me ask myself what the reaction would be in the USA if a plate read [TORQUEMADA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_de_Torquemada). Too many characters. You might have have to try TORKMDA. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/43 "2021-09-30T19:58:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > People do not learn history in school any more. Who was Attila’s chief of staff? I’m old enough and enough of a history/spy novel nerd to know who Mengele was - but it’s going on 80 years. Not that Mengele was a nobody, but at some point the only Nazi anyone is going to remember off the top of their head is Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/44 "2021-09-30T20:03:51Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I don’t know every single database management system out there, but in the big ones the below two values do not match in any way: Government systems, especially complex and arcane ones like the DMV, are probably not off the shelf and were built at a time of rather lax oversight. I’ve encountered many systems that don’t handle simple situations that every standard commercial piece of software has handled for years. And the guy didn’t try to game the system, he got the “NULL” plate by accident. He was supposed to fill out his form with three possible plate choices in case his first or second choice was already in use. He only wanted one of two possible choices, and wrote in NULL for the third option because he didn’t have a third choice. He decided to keep it and then found out the hard way that it wasn’t the greatest choice. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/45 "2021-09-30T20:05:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Okay, hero _4th_ time this week. When I stop posting, go ahead and figure that I pissed off the wrong Magahat. I know I should stop, but I just can’t help myself! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/46 "2021-09-30T20:10:30Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > While well documented, that one seems odd to me. Any license plate reader would pass that to the database in a string format. Thus they’d be looking for ‘NULL’ I read an anecdote recently, possibly here on the SDMB, about someone whose coworker would open up an excel spreadsheet, type a value into one field, a second value into another field, and then take out a handheld calculator, use it to add the two numbers, and enter that value into the third field. So, while probably an urban legend, you can never rule out the possibility that someone’s using that database in a dramatically non-standard manner. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/47 "2021-09-30T20:23:43Z")
And even then, a HITLER license plate could be in tribute to Eddie Hitler from Bottom. > **[Eddie Hitler](https://the-bottom.fandom.com/wiki/Eddie_Hitler)** > > Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler is a main character in the British sitcom Bottom. He is the creation of and is portrayed by British actor, comedian and musician Adrian Edmondson. He has appeared in all 18 episodes of the TV series, the movie, and the... [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTuXA7cqw4P76fFENK67RxCd9DOqtEq2MHvLSWXr6uNKnGNUuKAWh9J13kMnIXvNnpyGyw&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTuXA7cqw4P76fFENK67RxCd9DOqtEq2MHvLSWXr6uNKnGNUuKAWh9J13kMnIXvNnpyGyw&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/48 "2021-09-30T22:02:57Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Who was Attila’s chief of staff? _Reductio ad absurdum._ When all else fails. > [@](#): > > I’m old enough and enough of a history/spy novel nerd to know who Mengele was - but **it’s going on 80 years.** My bold. My 33-year old step-grandson believes that modern history **began** on 9/11. He believes that nothing of ANY importance happened in the world prior to that date. However, 80 years is still within living memory. > [@](#): > > Not that Mengele was a nobody, but **at some point** the only Nazi anyone is going to remember off the top of their head is Hitler. My bold. We have reached that point. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/49 "2021-09-30T22:24:05Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > If missing license plates had NULL values in a field for thousands of records, SELECT \* FROM TABLE WHERE FIELD = ‘NULL’ would return nothing. In fact NULL != NULL in this world. To find the actual NULL records, you’d have to use SELECT \* FROM TABLE WHERE FIELD \color{red}IS IS\color{red}IS NULL. You are correct. Provided it’s SQL DB, which I assume it would be. Unless the coding is really screwed up I suppose. NULL in this case is a string. and would/should be queried as ‘NULL’. NULL is a totally different animal. I always liked the license plate on a VW ‘Bug’ that said ‘FEATURE’. - Not a bug it’s a feature. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/50 "2021-09-30T22:31:09Z")
Weird. Your reply shows that the MathJax plug-in doesn’t seem to kick in for quoted replies. The red shows up fine in my post, but the dollar signs seem to have been stripped on the quote you responded to. I’ll go see if that’s a known issue in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/51 "2021-09-30T22:31:22Z")
At least in some parts of the country, a MENGELE license plate is likely to draw attention in the form of eggs, a screwdriver to a door panel or worse. Might’ve been better to leave this dingbat to his/her manifest destiny. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/52 "2021-09-30T22:44:40Z")
I knew of a Dr. Slaughter once. Perhaps this guy is his cousin or something. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/53 "2021-09-30T22:48:35Z")
Clearly, DMV are not thrash metal fans: (though, to be fair, Mengele is not explicitly named) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/r7cWi41XGCM/maxresdefault.jpg "Angel Of Death") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7cWi41XGCM) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/54 "2021-09-30T23:04:19Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Too many characters. You might have have to try TORKMDA. AUTODFE would also work. “Auto-Da-Fe” also sounds like the place where you might buy a used car. “Come on down to Auto-Da-Fe, for Da-Fun and Da-Financing!” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/55 "2021-09-30T23:27:33Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Who was Attila’s chief of staff Bleda I learned this a day or so ago, because he was played by Leo Gordon, mentioned in [This thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-major-film-has-the-most-convicted-criminals-in-it/951484/9) ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/56 "2021-09-30T23:44:12Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > Wait … if it was a black pickup truck with no muffler and MENGELE plates, and a couple of vertical chrome pipes spewing black diesel exhaust … hey, that _ **was** _ **D\_Anconia**! > > You forgot the [bull balls!](https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=bull+balls+on+trucks&client=firefox-b-1-d&fir=IJv4e43GAFVUcM%252Ce_3HZbQ5Hf4UXM%252C_%253BcrNg1iWJikO8rM%252CYxZfEWP9kHnOgM%252C_%253BUmfAcJGd2lzY1M%252CAXfAM28Jit0lkM%252C_%253BqUvvVYmzys8EYM%252CYxZfEWP9kHnOgM%252C_%253BQUXGPVxcGuLAxM%252CUPqaKYakcH49CM%252C_%253B8e8GG9dfxaPkCM%252CIvFL_eP7-e9yGM%252C_%253Bs6dGxewbe79jxM%252CZaV_DXTNWkI1JM%252C_%253BygMyeMoBn2KsGM%252CT5gDehm-mLjM5M%252C_%253BlmOzXBH0XJZpXM%252CnuJxYsJ5cd1dJM%252C_%253B4eUuRy7oPBbcXM%252C3QTDnIaUisoTxM%252C_%253B5BJaGmc2CzXTCM%252Cd_PZuh9dsdIBxM%252C_%253BfH1bH5UuA5aw2M%252CYxZfEWP9kHnOgM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kTAzAeyAS2JRCBmf_VcZ3_Czp9cLA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiloOeA3aXzAhWBvp4KHblLA1wQjJkEegQIBBAC&biw=1920&bih=913&dpr=1) > > Last week (on eviction Monday) I saw a U-Haul truck driving in the left lane of the highway so the passenger could stick his “Fuck Biden” sign out the window at every stoplight and wave it around. I just happened to be next to the truck at the next light and held my left hand up in that most recognizable sign. The screaming and swearing was loud, but his bright red face was even more fun to watch, so I turned my face so he could see me and said “LOSER”!!! > > He turned purple and screamed even louder. If he doesn’t get his blood pressure under control he’s going to have a stroke. Ghod I wish I could do that, I would be internationally greeting every damn muttfucker in this state, but I don’t, too many of those american taliban members _will_ follow and _will_ stalk and _will_ commit violence against me, my family and my property. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/57 "2021-09-30T23:53:24Z")
Yeah, I’m probably going to get myself killed someday, but I’ll go knowing I’ve taken a few of them out first! ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/58 "2021-10-01T00:39:13Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > Too many characters. You might have have to try TORKMDA. > > AUTODFE would also work. > > “Auto-Da-Fe” also sounds like the place where you might buy a used car. > > “Come on down to Auto-Da-Fe, for Da-Fun and Da-Financing!” Maybe we should consult @OttoDaFe about this. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/59 "2021-10-01T00:44:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > a black pickup truck with no muffler and MENGELE plates, and a couple of vertical chrome pipes spewing black diesel exhaust This is a very specific subset of another thread, but it needs to be titled, “Why Are All Pickup Truck Drivers Assholes?” ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610/60 "2021-10-01T01:13:45Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Maybe we should consult @OttoDaFe about this. It is a burning question … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-on-the-road-today-i-saw-a-mengele-license-plate-on-a-pickup-truck/951610.md?page=4)