The other day in Tom’s parking lot 8 out of 14 cars had bumpers stickers and several had 3 or 4. I have to admit that a few of them caused me to stop for a second read:
- Plug the oil leak with Wall Street bankers.
- Yoga is for posers.
- What if the hokey, pokey really is what it’s all about?
According to a recent article in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, “…drivers who put bumper stickers on their car are 16% more likely to engage in road rage.” I’m not sure if there is a relationship between “road rage” and your everyday “We’re mad as hell.” rage. But I’m starting to wonder, since we seem to be a bumper sticker place, if bumper stickers are somehow related to the “rage” over whatever happens to be the current Village issue. Would the dog park and fluoride debates have been more congenial if we outlawed bumper stickers?
It definitely warrants further study. In the meantime, be very careful in Tom’s parking lot, we don’t want to upset the bumper sticker people.
A. Reader
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10 comments:
Guilty! and yes the hokey, pokey really is what it’s all about.
Watch out for my Scion with bumper stickers...beep beep
ho ha
Christina
We used to have the hokey pokey sticker on our previous car. It made many people smile--and one time, directly behind us at a stop sign, we caught a guy on a motorcycle doing the hokey pokey for us.
The only one I can recall having on one of my cars (back in the 70s) read, "Save worms, use Jitterbugs." It was a promo for a fishing lure I was fond of at the time. But my favorite bumper sticker that I have not actually owned reads, "Wherever chickens are outlawed, only outlaws will have chickens." This one is available for purchase online. In the 60s, there was the ubiquitous "Who is John Galt?" I ended up reading a big, fat Ayn Rand novel just to find out.
I HAD to comment on this one...my Honda wagon has OVER 200 stickers, you know...I started putting stickers on my previous car during a divorce to be more assertive; I'd felt stifled. Now I have themes on my car: Peace, music, womens rights and rights in general. A few years back, I got lots of bad looks and religious tracts on my car, but as things have changed, I've gotten thumbs up and great comments and conversations...
My favorite bumper sticker is: “It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.” I followed a car with this bumper sticker for a while --even making turns that were out of my way -- to make sure I was reading it correctly then thought about it for a long time. Wanted to applaud the driver but couldn't find an appropriate way without causing an accident.... The bumper stickers at Dark Star always make me laugh. Maybe when I turn 60 I'll finally get up the nerve to put a couple zingers on my car and let people know what I really think! ;-)
We try to chose some to make you think at Dark Star; no matter how many we order, we always run out of "COEXIST" but there are lots of good ones out there...My favorite is my favorite quote, which is on my violin case: "There are two refuges from the miseries of life...music and cats" by Schweitzer. It's a hard bumper sticker to come by.
seems like a slow day in the springs when the hot topic is bumper stickers maybe we should go back to talking about bigger issues like whether or not we should have a dog park or a big franchise restaurants in town.
I had a bumper sticker on my '90 Toyota about 20 years ago when I lived on Dayton Street that said "Another Mother for Choice".
Late one night someone threw a brick
through the back window of the car. (I knew what they threw because it ended up
in the back seat of the car.)
Now I'm not sure putting your philosophy on the bumper sticker of your car is a totally safe idea.
I have very little access to radio. Only a bit more with print media via Letters to the Editor. TV is entirely out of my reach. So how do I try to influence other people? I put stickers on my "traveling billboard". The reader who thinks they don't make a difference might be surprised at how advertisers KNOW that constant bombardment DOES influence us all. We cannot escape the ubiquitous flag, the sports decal, the My Child is A ..... We are influenced by every thing we see and hear so I use all the sources of exposure I can find. Yes, their is some risk especially when I drive my anti- militarism message onto WPAFB but it is nothing compared to what the military whistle blowers are now experiencing. Yes, I wish I had more access to power and more guts to confront American terrorism. But I do what I can. In fact I'm going out right now and add WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER to my little car. I know I can squeeze it in someplace. Mary M. Morgan age 84
Thank you, Mary. You said what I meant to convey.
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