Auto-emotive
17Apr2006
I am currently in Washington DC, and the area I am working in is a vehicle vortex, an automotive abyss. Driving here is like having teeth pulled in a busy waiting room, it’s so painful.
There are so many cars, the jams are thicker than the marmalade that has been in my refrigerator for the last 8 months, and the traffic lights take so long to change that old people are dying in their minivans. Anyway, here are some car-related queries for you:
- College Name Stickers – why do people have stickers with the names of their colleges in the rear windows of their vehicles? Is it pride? Can you be proud of some small, back-country jumped-up technical college? Is it an attempted form of one-upmanship (I’m cleverer than you, and I’ve got the sticker to prove it)? Or is it just a way to make the driver look even more stupid (I went to college and I still don’t understand traffic signals)?
- Baby on Board Signs – why have these? I mean, does anyone actually take any notice of these little black and yellow signs? Do you slow down or give a wider berth to cars sporting those baby-badges? OK, so I guess it tells you the driver might be distracted by a screaming kid – that’s worth knowing, but wouldn’t you take more notice if it said ‘hormonal pregnant lady on board’, or ‘viagra-popping heart-attack candidate on board’?
- Cars and Politics – is it politically correct to declare your political preferences on a bumper sticker? I was told never to discuss sex, religion or politics with strangers, so if you like to proclaim the fact that you are a bumper-Bush-basher, what does that say about you? I don’t know the answer, but I did see a great sticker on a Volvo here in DC – it read ‘Not Rich Enough for a Tax Break’. The driver obviously did not work for Halliburton.
What? You don’t like my fair city? I’ve lived here all my life, born in northern VA, but my youngest was born in DC. We don’t like the traffic either, I’m always saying, “Welcome to DC, now go home!”
The college sticker thing, well, my oldest is working on his masters and I’ve yet to put any of his school stickers on my car. I do think that it is very much a status symbol, especially in this area. In NVA, it’s very important to have the right sticker, on the right car or they won’t deem you fit for their presence.
The political stickers, let me just say this. The Republicans feel far superior, see above paragraph and the Dems, well, we just want to make sure you that you don’t mistake US for one of THEM.
Enjoy your visit.
summer – don’t get me wrong – I love DC, I just hate the traffic. And the problem is that I am not actually working downtown but at Mclean. Great for malls, but not much else…
Hm, we don’t have colleges here, so no college stamps (we are not illiterate, it’s just a different educational system!) but we do have some private highschools like the American college which is considered tops and the stickers create an impression that makes me go hm!
As for politics stickers, we are very suspicious to cry outloud what we vote…!
We usually see the N for new driver but don’t pay much attention especially when seen in old fashioned vehicles barely standing on four wheels with middle-aged drivers. You don’t need N to pay attention to those!
I suppose your suggestions would cause more attention (he…he… bump!)
I know McLean all too well. I grew up there. I wish you could have seen it before the Mall was there. It use to be a dairy farm and my father worked there as a young boy. At the actual corner of Tyson’s, there was a gas station, a general store and a bar. They bar was named The Crystal Pistol. Aren’t you sorry you missed that? Enjoy your stay.
e.i. – N for new driver, eh? Sometimes I miss Europe for such obvious but useful ideas. Bermuda’s equivalent is white crash helmets for tourists on scooters (you can’t hire a car in BDA). It makes them easy to spot and ignore…
Summer – I am definitely sorry that I missed that – it sounds so much nicer than the mall environment at Tysons now. As for my stay, it’s more like a second home right now – I am here every two to three weeks…
I know it’s rough around here, traffic wise and the people can be just a bit annoying. I hope you find something good about it. If you have some spare time, head west on route 7, see a little history in Leesburg, the Blue Ridge Mountains, maybe take a trip to Harper’s Ferry. Thomas Jefferson said that where the Potomac and Shenandoh rivers meet is the most beautiful place on earth. Oh and there are some good vinyards in Loudoun County too. I’ve been to your Bermuda, 3 times. Heaven on earth!
I have definatly seen some very funny political stickers on cars but most of them just make me mad. I wouldn’t consider myself a Bush administration supporter and I’ve seen some pretty ignorant stickers. Living in northern New Hampshire the stickers that piss me off the most are usually attached to bumpers on 1993 Ford F150s sporting gun racks and a driver looking very much like a character from Deliverance.
You know what else I see a lot of now are the ribbon magnets. They have them for everything these days. I think that the ribbon has now lost a lot of it’s simbolism because of the popularity of these magnets. Although I did see one that I found hilarious…”Support Road Head”
I apologize if this comment comes up twice, I don’t think it posted the first time.
I really prefer the subtle signs like
“BABY IN TRUNK”
I’ve always wondered about those “Baby On Board” signs too, i always wondered if the people who had them were just showing off or something, but someone told me once that they were originally invented to save lives – if there was a car crash a small baby could be hidden in it, so the “Baby on board” signs would alert rescuers to it. But then it seems people started using these signs to show off or be fashionable or whatever, instead of their original purpose.