Some issues will be forever debated in our world…
Republican vs. Democrat
Who plays the best James Bond?
Ford vs. Chevy
Cloth diapers vs. Disposable
Another debate, this one about as equally serious as Coke vs. Pepsi, is whether or not to put stick figure family decals on your car. You know the ones I’m talking about, right? These stickers show mom wearing a dress or running shoes, and dad with his golf clubs and beer along with outlines of their tiny offspring by their side. They can be seen on the back windows of minivans everywhere, with a large concentration in the Target parking lot for some reason. Are they goofy, cheesy, fun, or obnoxious? They may be be all of the above.
Then there’s the anti-family stick figure stickers. Stickers that show people with bags of money next to them or my personal favorite, a crazed man with a chainsaw chasing a family with a caption reading, “Nobody cares about your stick figure family.”
I don’t really have a problem with them, nor do I think they’re really that great of an invention either. They sort of remind me of the “Baby on Board” signs that hung from windows of sedans and station wagons in the mid-80’s. Remember those yellow signs? Their intended purpose was to promote safe driving, but I doubt too many bad drivers shaped up when they saw that little sign dangling in the rear passenger window of an ’89 Ford LTD Crown Victoria station wagon.
I don’t think they are any more obnoxious than the way some people despise the 5K, 13.1, or 26.2 stickers people put on their cars. If you’re a runner and you’re proud of a distance you’ve ran, good for you, display that sticker. I don’t see why non-runners care about this. I definitely don’t get the people that proudly display the 0.0 stickers, showing off their lack of running prowess. Maybe even more obnoxious are the stickers that showoff all the fancy places people enjoy travelling to. Ok, so maybe the Golden, Colorado sticker is clever (Au), and I think the BFE sticker is one I may consider on my vehicle, but I do not feel the need to put a new sticker on my car after every new summer vacation destination.
So, what’s my point in all of this? Let’s not get too worked up over stick figure decals in car windows. The people we should be concerned about are the ones that still have the “McCain/Palin in ’08” bumper stickers on their cars. It’s been five years, peel that thing off already!
-Pete
