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Subject: American Bumper Stickers From: Murray MacLeod Date: 12 Feb 01 - 06:54 PM I have been trying hard to be a nice guy on Mudcat, and not generate any controversy, but I feel I just have to sound off on this one. I have beeen living in the States for three years now, I love it, love the people, want to become a citizen eventually and all that, but ONE THING BUGS ME. What is it with these bumper stickers that inform total strangers of personal details that to my British-conditioned mind would be best kept in the family ? Let me start with "My Child Made Honor Roll At XYZ Grade School" . Well, congratulations lady, I am happy for you but why are you telling ME about it? As it happens, I made top of my class all the way through primary(grade) and secondary(high) school, but I would have been mortified had my parents ever advertised the fact on their rear bumper. Do American kids ever get teased about the bumper stickers? Or do the "stupid" kids who don't make Honor Roll look up to them in admiration ? Please tell me . I really want to know. Then there are the "My Child is A Graduate of D.A.R.E" I am guessing slightly here, but I think DARE stands for Drugs and Rehabilitation ???????????". Whatever it is, it is a statement that the child has been a drug addict and has got himself clean. Again, I think this is great, but why are you telling ME about it? Don't you think you should just keep it in the family? But the one I saw on the turnpike this afternoon really takes the biscuit. "My Son Was Killed by a Drunk Driver" Underneath was the acronym M.A.D.D, which even I can deduce must stand for "Mothers Against Drunk Driving". Again, you have my deepest sympathy lady, but why are you telling ME about it? And where do you order these bumper stickers? Surely not at the filling station? Or does a telemarketer phone you up and say "Uh, saw in the paper your son was killed by a drunk driver, like to buy a bumper sticker?" Why can Americans not simply celebrate privately and grieve privately? I dread the day when I see a sticker saying "My Daughter was Raped by a ??????" (Fill in your ethnic choice) Murray |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Matt_R Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:01 PM Why do you keep telling us "supposedly" who the greatest guitarist is, ever? Who cares? Not me! |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:08 PM I don't/won't have a bumper sticker on my car--EXCEPT, if I can find one that says, "Just say NO to bumper stickers!" Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Bill D Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:08 PM Murray, I guess it comes from being this big melting pot and having no traditions older than 300 years....and the thing is, only a small % put those things on their cars....and many fewer in some areas of the country. But it only takes 1% of millions to hit you every day.... Americans simply do not have the 'traditional' reserve we associate with the English...(I'll bet in Finland they use VERY few bumper stickers!...I wonder about Japan... |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Sarah2 Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:12 PM Murray, I always suspect these are the same people who avidly watch the likes of Sally Jesse Rafael and Maury Povitch -- however they're spelled -- where the theme for the day is "My Brother Cheated on Me with His Sister-in-law" or some such. I don't know where they come from, but they probably have damned little to display in their lives. Just think of those bumper stickers as a shouted warning: You Don't Want To Know Me. Sarah |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Giac Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:22 PM And there's: My Kid Can Whip Your Honor Student (quite popular in some rural regions). Or, the ever-beloved: You Can Have My Gun When You Pry It From My Cold Dead Fingers
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:24 PM Do bumper stickers go on bumpers? Not much room I'd have thought, and don't they get covered in mud?
It's common enough putting stickers on the back window of cars in England - "Baby on Board" is one of the most common, and for some reason it annoys a lot of people. I can't see why - I see it as reminding me and my fellow motorists that these are lethal vehicles we're driving, and we're in a very hazardous situation while we're on the road. And reminding us of that seems a good idea to me..
And that's how I'd react to that "My Son was killed by a drunk driver" - a raw and jagged reminder of reality.
The silliest and most dangerous is where people have a sticker in small print saying "If you can read this, you're too close." Which just encourages people to drive too close in order to make out what it says - it'd maybe make sense if it was printed in great big letters that you could read at a really safe distance.
(How did that "supposedly greatest guitarist" get into this thread?)
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Gary T Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:41 PM Some of them bug me, some I find interesting or amusing. D.A.R.E stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It's a program promoted by police departments to help kids avoid getting into drug use. Its effectiveness is being questioned now that it has been around long enough to start evaluating the results. "Baby On Board" signs irk me because I see them as saying "My car's passengers are deserving of extra caution on your part." So it's not so bad if I plow into a car that contains only adults? Furthermore, the great majority of the time the baby is not on board, making the notice dishonest. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: campfire Date: 12 Feb 01 - 07:41 PM I don't like bumper stickers, either, and won't put one on my car. But the "my kid made honor roll.." and similar ones are often fundraisers for the schools. Friends of mine have been "co-erced" by the schools to buy one. campfire
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:07 PM As I said, Baby on Board annoys some people.
But I don't get it - there are a lot of people who drive around with a mind-set that the other cars are rival in some kind of competition, and all of us can find ourselves slipping into that way of thinking - and that sticker ought to jerk us out of that sick fantasy.
But since it probably won't in most cases, and it does seem to irritate some people, and irritated people are more dangerous drivers, it's probably not a good idea having the sticker.
But it's amazing the number of cars that do have drivers ploughing into the rear of them, and the number of drivers who drive crazily close to the car in front.
I wish they had some kind of reliable personality tests for drivers - there are so many technically skilled drivers who should never be allowed behind the wheel or in the saddle of any vehicle with an engine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Matt_R Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:12 PM I love bumped stickers...but I don't have any! But I do have a sticker in my back window..."East Carolina University School of Art". Some of my favs: "If you get too close, I'll flick a booger on your windshield" "Unless you're a hemmhoroid, get off my ass." "Vegetarians. They just tastes better." |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:17 PM I'm inclined to think that people displaying those stickers would be likely to flunk that reliable personality test...
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: CarolC Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:19 PM "Support the right to arm bears" |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Ebbie Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:24 PM Obviously people are of two- or more- minds about bumper stickers. I never have had one, and soaked and scraped two off a car I inherited- on the other hand, I do have stickers on my guitar cases. Isn't that kind of the same thing? Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Amos Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:32 PM Hey, look at it this way: if your fellow humans are disinclined to talk to YOU, what the hell makes you think they want to hear from your CAR??? But it is true that a funny little cultural back-eddy has evolved -- a behaviour learned, no doubt from the crudescence that passes for great minds on Madison Avenue -- involving using your car as a medium for communicating. After all, they use trucks to promote groceries and plumbing services. Some bumper stickers I think I would rather see, in place of the current lot:
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: campfire Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:35 PM I would think so, Ebbie. My guitar case is clean, too. I guess I don't want to share what might be a fleeting thought permanently with strangers. But I do admit I enjoy READING them. One of my favorites read "My Next Husband Will Be Normal". I thought it cute at the time, as a was in the beginning stages of divorce. I'm glad I didn't stick it anywhere, now. campfire |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: CarolC Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:08 PM "Jesus is coming. Try to look busy." |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: wdyat12 Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:09 PM We have a modest gathering of "Born Again Christians" here at the shipyard. Many of them are crane operators and work high up near God in the crane cabs. We put bumper stickers on a few targeted cranes which read, "Jesus is Coming, Look Busy!" The religeous crane operators love them. wdyat12 |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: kendall Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:10 PM I have a bumper sticker, and, I couldn't care less who doesn't like it. It says DEMOCRAT AND PROUD. Wanna make something of it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: wdyat12 Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:14 PM CarolC, I think we are sharing the same thoughts at the same time except you type with all your fingers. wdyat12 |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: GUEST,John Gray/Australia Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:21 PM Best one I ever saw was in NYC several years ago, obviously the wife's car. "All men are idiots - and my husband is their king". F.M.E. JG. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Mrrzy Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:40 PM I like bumper stickers, but not the Honor Roll kind, I like the humor kind: I'M THE REAL FATHER of your honor roll student. Where am I going, and what am I doing in this handbasket? Cthulhu for President - Why vote for the lesser of 2 evils? ...and so on... Personally, I have no bumber stickers, but I do have window stickers, one from Tufts, one from UVA, I used to have Vulcan Science Academy but I can't find one, and I also have country stickers, one Hungary, one Ivory Coast, one Ireland. I catch Hungarian speakers that way... |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Mrrzy Date: 12 Feb 01 - 09:41 PM Bumber stickers, ooh! |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Murray MacLeod Date: 12 Feb 01 - 10:16 PM I understand the adverising thing, I understand the (supposedly) humorous thing Like Ebbie, I had to scrape one off my bumper. It was applied in good faith by my wife and read "Scotsmen Do It Better". Notwithstanding its veracity, it had to go. No, it is the intensely personal ones I don't understand, still awaiting enlightenment. And I agree with McGrath, what is the "greatest guitarist" doing on this thread Matt ? Murray |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Bert Date: 13 Feb 01 - 01:27 AM When we lived in Alabama the kids bought one that read "Born Again Pagan" It was great fun driving around with that on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: rangeroger Date: 13 Feb 01 - 02:32 AM I had one on my Suburban that used to irritate people 'til it finally rotted off. "I speed up to run down little animals" I also saw one that countered the "Honor Student" one; " My Father is a trusty at San Diego County Jail" rr |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: katlaughing Date: 13 Feb 01 - 03:27 AM They don't all come from the mind(less) of Madison Avenue: Fun, Alternative Bumper Stickers |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Naemanson Date: 13 Feb 01 - 08:14 AM I have no bumper stickers on my car but my guitar case is festooned and I have some on my bulletin board at work. Some of my favorites:
Question Authority "Born Again Pagan" is on my bulletin board and I expected it to raise some eyebrows, especially those of the conspicuous Christians. Unfortunately it has been ignored for years. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Pseudolus Date: 13 Feb 01 - 08:42 AM I think bumper stickers are like threads on the back of people's cars. If you don't like 'em, don't read 'em. I don't think that people who put them on their cars really care if other folks don't like 'em or read 'em, they just think they're 'cute'. I don't, but hey, lighten up, we're all different out there, live and let live...... JMHO, Frank |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: The Walrus at work Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:03 AM Gary T, Re:"Baby on Board", >..."Baby On Board" signs irk me because I see them as saying "My car's passengers are deserving of extra caution on your part." So it's not so bad if I plow into a car that contains only adults? Furthermore, the great majority of the time the baby is not on board, making the notice dishonest...." After seeing the way some people drive with their rugr^H^H^H^H baby in the car, I always tend to read it as "The driver of this vehicle would rather make cooing and pull faces at the sprog lashied into the seat next to them than watch what the *%$£'s happening on the road... THIS CAR IS NOT UNDER PROPER CONTROL!" Walrus |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Kim C Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:53 AM I have always been flummoxed by that men are idiots and I married their king. So you're now the Queen of Idiots, huh? You must not have been very bright to have taken up with the King of Idiots. (dang, sister, I don't believe I'd have told that...) I don't like religious bumper stickers. Not because I have anything against religion, because I don't; but because I think actions are more important than bumper stickers and t-shirts and all that. But that's everyone's choice - to each their own. I had a Riders in the Sky bumper sticker until it got ragged and I had to take it off. One of my favorites: Visualize Whirled Peas. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: GUEST,Midchuck upstairs Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:59 AM What I don't understand is bumper stickers for high-end guitars, especially Martin. Seems to be saying, "Here, this is the car you want to break into!" Same logic with the brand name embossed on the guitar case. Peter. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: kendall Date: 13 Feb 01 - 10:03 AM I like..VISUALIZE USING YOUR TURN SIGNAL. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: NH Dave Date: 13 Feb 01 - 11:52 AM I'm neutral on most bumper stickers. I think they fall into three categories, brag/statement, identification, and humor. Locally, motorists have adopted those oval international country identification disks, you know the ones that not so subtlely remind us, "I went to Sweden and bought this expensive Volvo and you didn't!", to indicate favorite state or even ISPs, so we see little green ones with VT or MV on them (MV.COM is a local internet provider originally inhabited mostly by computer gurus.) Tom and Ray Magliozzi of "Car Talk" started a traffic safety program against talking on car phones while driving, with a bumper sticker that says, "Hang Up and Drive!" Many medical providers have a small cadeuces with the notation MD or EMT indicating their ability to render emergency medical service. My last two cars had small stickers with vertical green, red, and yellow strips, indicating to fellow veterans that I had served in Viet Nam, and to others that I had no sense of color matching. When I was in England, semi-trailers/articulated lorries wore a "Long Vehicle" tag on the back to warn depth perceptionaly challenged people, and many motorcyclists adopted a smaller similar tag that read, "Short Vehicle". I may still have one. And I do enjoy the occasional thoughtful humorous nudge like, "Nuke the Unborn Gay Baby Whales", or the Driving Training Instructor whose license plates read, "IPRAY2" |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Metchosin Date: 13 Feb 01 - 12:29 PM CAUTION: MY DRIVING CAUSES TOURETTE'S SYNDROME Have one my husband gave me but I never got around to putting it on a car: MY ONLY DOMESTIC QUALITY IS THAT I LIVE IN A HOUSE |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Bat Goddess Date: 13 Feb 01 - 12:50 PM Bumper stickers usually wind up on the fridge around this house. There's no good bumper space on a lot of cars to carry one, and, besides, they deteriorate too fast on a vehicle (or the vehicle deteriorates too fast around the bumper sticker, so you need a movable one...). The one I'd like to have, though, is "I Brake for Tailgaters." The only "I Brake..." bumpersticker I own (yes, it's on the fridge) is "I Brake for Old Graveyards" (courtesy of the Society for Gravestone Studies). And, hey, Naemanson! I've been reading Ruth Moore for over 25 years! Bat Goddess |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: kendall Date: 13 Feb 01 - 01:41 PM Oh yeah? well I knew her! She even let me take her picture. What a character! |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: cowboypoet Date: 13 Feb 01 - 01:55 PM I have a decal in my back window which reads, "Notice! Driver Carries Only $20 Worth Of Ammunition." A man walked up to me in a parking lot a couple of weeks ago and asked where he could get one, saying, "I like your decal -- not only does it let people know where you stand, it also tells them where they stand with you." |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 13 Feb 01 - 01:56 PM So Americans do actually stick them on their bumpers? |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Gary T Date: 13 Feb 01 - 02:19 PM Oh, yes, McGrath--some folks seem to have a whole collection on the car's rear bumper (and trunk [boot] lid, and window, etc.). I had a car in my shop yesterday that had a half dozen of them. The only one I recall said "We're all here because we're not all there," which I thought was pretty funny. Murray, I'm not sure I can enlighten you as to why some feel compelled to announce personal stuff to the world. I find some of it rather obnoxious myself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Feb 01 - 02:28 PM I'm surprised that bumper stickers are still so popular in the U.S. They made sense when bumpers were chrome-plated, and a sticker wouldn't ruin anything on the car. Now, most bumpers are painted plastic, and I imagine bumper stickers would ruin the paint (or at least stop it from fading evenly. Even though I support the idea whole-heartedly, I think a Democratic and Proud of It bumper sticker would make it hard for me to sell my used car to a Republican... But then, Republicans probably wouldn't buy a car from me, anyhow. What would they want with a car that gets 35 miles per gallon and doesn't take up a lane and a half on the freeway? -Joe Offer, running for cover- Jon Freeman fixed the HTML on Amos's table, so now all you Netscape people should be able to read this thread. Thanks, Jon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Mrrzy Date: 13 Feb 01 - 02:36 PM When I had Skull&Roses on a car, boy did I get a lot of speeding tickets and so on! The cops let my long hair and tie-dye go by, now... so I won't put anything political or religious on my car down here in the Sawth... |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: wdyat12 Date: 13 Feb 01 - 02:50 PM Joe, I have a bumper sticker on my truck that reads, "Lobotemies for Republicans It's the Law." The State of Maine turned me down for their "Scap and Buy" program. Not even the junkyards want a truck with bumper stickers on them. wdyat12 |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: kendall Date: 13 Feb 01 - 03:41 PM If you want to be left alone, attach one that says "Support Maines Troopers" (They are underpaid and overworked) It also helps to stay under the speed limit! Or, just over it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: radriano Date: 13 Feb 01 - 04:05 PM I enjoy humorous bumper stickers. I keep meaning to have one made up that says "STUTTERERS DO IT REPEATEDLY" - and yes, I'm a stutterer myself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: wdyat12 Date: 13 Feb 01 - 04:08 PM kendall, I have one similar to that on a car I babysit for someone in the winter that reads: "DARE to think for yourself." all you can make out from 10 feet away is "DARE......" I've been pulled over for going 20 over the limit and never ticketed. wdyat12 |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Bert Date: 13 Feb 01 - 04:10 PM Saw one that said "DARE - to keep cops off donuts" |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: wdyat12 Date: 13 Feb 01 - 04:14 PM Or "Bad Cop! No Donut!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 14 Feb 01 - 03:40 AM This isn't a bumper sticker (not thread creep again, Roger?)but 'Spaw at least might appreciate it. On the way in to work half an hour ago I followed what I call a "sludge gulper" or "honey wagon" that had just emptied the portaloos from a building site. The registration plate included the letters LOO, the firm's name was Chamberpots and its slogan was "Number One in the Number Twos business"! RtS |
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Subject: RE: BS: American Bumper Stickers From: Banjer Date: 14 Feb 01 - 05:46 AM Well' I have several bumper stickers on the back of my truck. Like someone in a previous post said, if you don't like them, don't read them. Mine relate to the Civil War reenacting that we do. No one has yet commented negatively to them, but I have received quite a few comments about how the reader agrees with my sentiments, that being that our history and our heritage should be remembered. I guess to best answer Murray as to why do we place our thoughts on public display would be, 'Because we can' One of our most cherished right in this land of freedom is our freedom of speech. I for one will make use of that for as long as I draw a breath. Once we start suppressing that ideal, where will it lead us? I personally draw the line at stickers that are obscene, but do not support attempts by legislative groups to ban them. Was it Voltaire who said 'I may not agree with your opinion, but will fight to the death your right to it?'? |
