We don’t have any bumper stickers on our cars; never have. My wife doesn’t like them, and that’s fine.
There are some out there that I like, though. The CoExist one. There’s a couple about women empowerment I’d support. One that read, “Straight, but not narrow,” with a little rainbow next to it I would have appreciated more had the not-very-big car not taken up two spaces in my physical therapist’s parking lot.
Overtly partisan political bumper stickers I’m less fond of. Particularly if your candidate loses, it’s kind of embarrassing. Those Michael Dukasis 1988 stickers seemed so sad. The Romney 2012 seem almost disingenuous; did they really WANT Mitt, or did they just dislike the other guy? Although in 1973 and 1974, having a McGovern sticker was a badge of honor. Somebody even made up stickers saying, “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts,” naming the only state that George McGovern won when running against Richard Nixon in 1972.
I’m reading on Facebook a couple months ago this account of a guy I kinda sorta know, which I am using with his permission:
“I stopped at the post office just now. As I was leaving I saw a friend pull up to his office across the street so I left my car in the parking lot and walked over to talk. After we’d been standing their chatting awhile I saw a white pickup with cap on the back start to pull out of the post office parking lot but stop at the entrance directly behind my car. As I watched I saw this guy get out and walk over towards my car which has an Obama bumper sticker on it. As I saw he was clearly heading for my car with its open windows I started paying attention and watched as he spit inside the open driver side window.
“I yelled across the street at him and started crossing over which caused him to make a beeline for his truck [with Florida plates] and drive out of there as fast he could.
“What a disgusting little man. And a coward. Spitting anonymously in someone’s car but running like hell when the real person is there in front of you.”
The obvious reaction, of course, is YUCK. I mean, one can disagree with someone’s politics, but this was an act of anger and contempt. Heck, I can – but won’t – get into my disappointment over some of Obama’s policies. But this vile display actually shows how pathetically inert the spitter really was.
As the recipient of this attack noted: “The good news is that most Americans are still decent people and we reject you. You are losing. Your hate loses. Your disrespect of other Americans loses. Your ideas lost long ago. But worst of all for you is that you have all lost your way. You are caught in a propaganda driven world of hate and fear, greed and selfishness. Not all of you are bad people. But you have all lost your way in the world.”
My reaction when people do stuff like that is to remember my mantra, the great song, written by by Terre and Suzzy Roche, Keep On Doing/Jerks on the Loose [LISTEN]. Some of the lyrics:
Look who did it to you
Joker over there with nothing to do
Don’t let ‘m get through
Keep on Doing what you do
You work too hard to take this abuse
Be on your guard; jerks on the loose
Honestly I don’t like bumper stickers, either, mostly because they aid rust.
However, I want a “Coexist” for my back window. 🙂
Bad behavior is bad behavior, regardless of which side of the aisle a person is on.
The ONLY bumper sticker that has ever been on any of our cars in our 15-year marriage is the COEXIST sticker, given to us by Lex’s sister Sharon and her wife, Linda.
As for obscene or hateful bumper stickers, I have neither time nor tolerance for them. And why would anyone put bullet-hole decals on the back of their Ford Explorer? Saw one this week and thought, What…? Amy