Going with the Grain, and in the Sprinter.

Our friend Craig Manning, the geochemist, has been planning an extensive North American road trip attuned to the geologic grains of the continent. Tracking the ice sheets and more. But,
"When I went to DMV to pick up my vanity plates, the African American woman behind the desk goes, “What’s that mean, white grain?” I think she thought I was trying to sneak some nazi slogan onto my plates. I said that it meant "with the grain". But she had her suspicions and had me explain the meaning and details of the trip and the larger idea, and I blathered on about things--grains, the grain--being well-seen and better understood by working one's way along them. “Whoa, sounds sciency” was her response. You never know when you are going to have to explain some ill-formed private thought. And you never anticipate how quickly it will be dismissed. By a DMV desk clerk, even.