Dear Grandma, your grand kids are not cuter than mine.
If I had some grand kids, they would be much cuter than yours. And for that matter, my wife is prettier than your daughter, my dog is smarter than yours, my roses smell lovelier than yours, and my toaster makes better toast than yours!
I spend more time than a proctologist looking at rear ends and often I am both amused and shocked at what some people will stick on theirs. I’m talking about automobiles. I enjoy seeing what people have placed on their cars for my reading pleasure, but other times I cringe at the R-rated material.
I like trying to decipher the letter-limited vanity plates. Some people are very creative. Others are a little more cryptic. Yesterday I saw a plate that read, CSTMBLD. Was it custom build? Custom bold? Costume bled? I grow so curious that I want to get out at the first stoplight to inquire about the exact meaning. Other people can be so inane with their plates. BMER4ME: Yeah, no clue Buster, you’re driving a BMW. I hadn’t noticed. You have to advertise your status on your status symbol? Cool.
In ultra-conservative, mega-churched Orange County, the Jesus Fish has been replaced by the “Not of This World” window decal. It’s a reference to John 18:36 in which Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now, my kingdom is from another place.” Sometimes I take things too literally. So, does it mean the car is from heaven? I bet God didn’t need a government bailout for his auto industry. Or does it mean the car is “saved” and is going to auto heaven. It’s been cleansed at the local John the Baptist’s car wash? Maybe the car just has a great deal of faith. “I can do all things through Castrol.” Yes, I know the driver of the car is a Christian and is signifying his or her membership in Jesus’ otherworldly kingdom. However, I’ve never felt the need to advertise my faith in Jesus on my car. I hope my life is advertisement enough.
Then there’s Grandma’s boasting about her ever-so-cute grand children. Give me a break Granny Braggadocio. I certainly hope that you think that your grand kids are really cute. But are they cuter than someone else’s? Can’t you say, “I think that my grand kids are really cute?” Why does our society have to be so into one-up-man’s-ship? Is life a game and you have to be the winner? Is everything Coke vs. Pepsi, McDonald's vs. Burger King, my grand kids vs. your grand kids?
As entertained as I am by some license plates, I am also shocked at the vulgarity and obscenity that a few people slap on their cars. I don’t need to see Calvin from “Calvin and Hobbs” taking a leak. I don’t need to see cuss words, including the F-word, while driving on the freeway. And grandma’s cute grand kids don’t need to see naked women on the way to day care.
Free speech and the first amendment are good things. But I also believe in decency. Decency is defined as “a standard of propriety, good taste, and modesty”. What happened to good taste? Do people with naked women and cuss words on their custom built pick-ups not care about decency? Obviously not. They certainly don’t care what others think of them. That’s fine. It’s a free country. But to not care about their personal impact upon others is sad. They don’t care that children who are learning to read will be sounding out those cuss words. I often imagine what it’s like for a parent to have to explain words and images that can be found on the backs of vehicles today. Just because it’s allowable to be indecent in the privacy of one’s own home, does not mean it’s in good taste to be a billboard of indecency on our surface streets.
I think what it comes down to is a lack of consideration of others. People are so concerned with themselves that they don’t give a second thought about how what they stick on their cars affect others or reflect upon themselves. We’ve gone from the “It’s all about me” generation to the “I don’t give a flip about you” generation.
I wish that some citizens would order up a generous helping of decency. From watching one’s language at the ballpark to removing items of poor taste from a car, showing a respect and concern for others, especially children, can certainly go a long way toward delaying the timetable in which our youth will get their exposures to indecency.
Unless of course Grandma is bragging about how cute her bleepin' grand kids are.
I agree completely.. It is like a competition among parents to see how many afterschool activities your children participate...measured by the stickers on the back of the car...some even have names and their jersey numbers...
ReplyDeletewhile living in Brasil, we saw none of this. I did, however, see a lot of Jesus on the back of cars.
I think I can explain the lack of decency through a little parable. I had out-of-control Wisteria growing on my front railing, so I went out and cut all the branches at their roots. Of course the leaves didn't die right away; they stayed green for a few days and then gradually turned brown. This is what has happened to our culture. Connection to Jesus and His way of living was the lifeblood of our culture for a long time, but the roots were cut a good while back, but the "decency" stayed around for awhile, the "Christian capital," if you will. Well, the capital is running out now that the roots have been cut, and as it does, the common decency you long for is dying.
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