A quirky administrative mix-up has turned a nearly 77-year-old Florida resident into the most talked-about resident of her retirement community, after state vehicle officials accidentally issued her a license plate with a hidden lewd acronym.
Nancy Dello Stritto, a Pompano Beach local, says she was shocked when she finally looked closely at her replacement plate, which read SQZ A55 — a combination that spells out a crude phrase when read casually. “I went ballistic,” she recalled in an interview with CBS Miami. “I just don’t think a senior who’s almost 77 should be driving around with a plate that says that. How did this even get through the screening process to be issued?”
Dello Stritto never asked for a custom plate; she was simply waiting for a standard replacement for her old plate when the new one arrived in the mail. She told reporters she did not notice anything off when she first pulled it out of the envelope, and only caught the suggestive wording later.
Since word spread about the unusual plate, opinions among her inner circle and neighbors have been split. Some friends in her retirement community have urged her to swap it out immediately for a more appropriate combination, while her own sons and other family members have encouraged her to hang onto it.
After weighing her options, the 76-year-old made a playful decision: she is keeping the plate, just to see how the situation plays out. “I’m resigned to it; maybe it was destined for it to be on my car,” Dello Stritto said. “I can handle it if I get a few honks here and there. Actually, being over 70, I might like a few honks.”
The background of Florida’s license plate production adds context to the rare error: for close to a century, all state license plates have been manufactured at a state prison in North Florida, before being distributed through official state agencies. Local officials with Broward County confirm that any driver who receives a plate deemed offensive or inappropriate can request a free replacement, meaning Dello Stritto could swap it any time she chooses. For now, though, she is embracing her unexpected local fame.