# Oh, the irony of mixed messages **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017 "2012-12-14T12:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/1 "2012-12-14T12:47:51Z")
I’m driving along yesterday and a car pulls out of a driveway and cuts me off so I have to hit the brakes to avoid collision. Then I notice she’s (the driver) also cut off a pedestrian about to cross the driveway, an old man using a walker. He is kinda stumbling backward with a stunned look in his face. And the car has these bumper stickers – [Coexist](http://www.synchrosecrets.com/synchrosecrets/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Coexist_by_Chima1.png) (with all that woo symbolism), [Share the Road](http://www.zazzle.com/share_the_road_bumper_sticker-128027695354829116), and [Watch for Motorcycles](http://www.hupy.com/upload/stickers.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/2 "2012-12-14T15:48:59Z")
I dislike bumper stickers as a general rule, but I’ve always thought that if one is going to put bumperstickers on their car, they probably ought to drive in such a way so as not to paint a negative image of those ideas. I’ve tried to find a correlation between various political or religious or philosophical stickers and driving habits; as it turns out, people just drive like assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/3 "2012-12-14T15:51:36Z")
Were you driving a motorcycle at the time? No? Then I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/4 "2012-12-14T16:02:27Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I dislike bumper stickers as a general rule, but I’ve always thought that if one is going to put bumperstickers on their car, they probably ought to drive in such a way so as not to paint a negative image of those ideas. This is why I don’t put any bumper stickers on my car. If someone is annoyed at my driving, I’d rather they just think I’m an idiot or an asshole, rather than thinking less of some cause that is important to me. I’m not confident enough in my driving to take that risk, so no bumper stickers for me. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/5 "2012-12-14T16:06:57Z")
Perhaps the car was stolen, and the thief had not yet had time to put a Disclaimer bumper sticker onto it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/6 "2012-12-14T16:12:07Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I dislike bumper stickers as a general rule, but I’ve always thought that if one is going to put bumperstickers on their car, they probably ought to drive in such a way so as not to paint a negative image of those ideas. I have a bumper sticker that I’ll put on the car when I get round to it: [**I use cruise control. So it must be you.**](http://www.cafepress.com/mf/71318350/cruise-control-bumper_bumper-sticker?shop=oddjobs) I can’t tell you how often people have come racing up behind me, I move over, and then they sit in my 8 o’clock position and don’t pass. Or they hurry to pass me, then pull in in front of me at a slower speed than I’ve been driving for miles. It’s time I let them know how I feel. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/7 "2012-12-14T16:14:06Z")
No snark intended, but a little chrome fishy always reads to me - and proves out to be - a LOOK OUT SELFISH ASSHOLE DRIVER emblem. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/8 "2012-12-14T16:14:10Z")
There was a period a long while back when there was a popular bumper sticker that just said Shit Happens. I always wondered how people who put that on their cars felt when someone accidentally ran into them. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/9 "2012-12-14T16:26:34Z")
Maybe she meant “Coexist _in the same time and space_” and was trying to do that with you. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/10 "2012-12-14T16:42:16Z")
There’s a car in my neighbourhood that has a “Back Off, Tailgaters!” type bumper sticker on it. This car drives way under the speed limit, from what I’ve seen. You know what - sometimes it IS you! Take a hint! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/11 "2012-12-14T17:01:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I can’t tell you how often people have come racing up behind me, I move over, and then they sit in my 8 o’clock position and don’t pass. Or they hurry to pass me, then pull in in front of me at a slower speed than I’ve been driving for miles. It’s time I let them know how I feel. Just in case I haven’t mentioned it often enough here, I drive a hundred miles to work (and then a hundred more home) every work day. This is one of the most annoying things that happens almost every day. I have my cruise control set. Please do not pass me and then go slower than me. There are a half dozen or so passing lane spots on this highway, where it opens up to two lanes for a mile or so, and the second most annoying thing is people who speed up when they get to the passing lane, and then slow back down again afterwards. Drivers are idiots. Not me of course. Just everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/12 "2012-12-14T17:20:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Just in case I haven’t mentioned it often enough here, I drive a hundred miles to work (and then a hundred more home) every work day. I drive 110 miles to work, and 110 miles home – but only twice a week. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/13 "2012-12-14T17:29:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I drive 110 miles to work, and 110 miles home – but only twice a week. I drive uphill, both ways, in 4 feet of snow. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/14 "2012-12-14T17:38:50Z")
To the OP: if the “she” in question was over the age of 65, she [gets a pass from me](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15794080&postcount=14). **Dude with the walker** gets a wakeup call to pay attention to the world around him, and also a little ego stroke that he’s still got some mojo in the reflex department. OP proves to the _SDMB_ that he’s an incredibly alert defensive driver, worthy of praise and admiration, gaining a deserved sense of roadway superiority which may or may not translate into a confidence boost in other areas of his life. Perhaps **Boyo Jim** will be a wild stallion between the sheets tonight, bowl a perfect game, or have small woodland creatures follow at his heels as a tangential result of this vehicular incident. If the “she” is under 65, then she’s just an idiot. The only bumper sticker I’d consider putting on my vehicle is **HONK IF YOU’RE HORNY** a true classic. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/15 "2012-12-14T17:39:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I drive 110 miles to work, and 110 miles home – but only twice a week. A lot of folks I work with rent an apartment and do the weekend commute. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/16 "2012-12-14T17:40:33Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > I drive uphill, both ways, in 4 feet of snow. 4 feet of snow? You lucky bastard. For me, it’s 6 feet of volcanic ash, plus occasional extra distance driving around the many lava flows in Central Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/17 "2012-12-14T17:56:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > \ > Drivers are idiots. Not me of course. Just everyone else. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/18 "2012-12-14T18:16:50Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I dislike bumper stickers as a general rule, but I’ve always thought that if one is going to put bumperstickers on their car, they probably ought to drive in such a way so as not to paint a negative image of those ideas. Eh, I just put on bumper stickers endorsing the groups I want to discredit, and then drive like an asshole. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/19 "2012-12-14T20:35:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > 4 feet of snow? You lucky bastard. For me, it’s 6 feet of volcanic ash, plus occasional extra distance driving around the many lava flows in Central Wisconsin. Yeah, but when I were a lad we didn’t have a _car_ to drive in. Our dad just had a steering wheel to hold, and us kids had to run through the volcanic ash behind him. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017/20 "2012-12-14T20:44:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m driving along yesterday and a car pulls out of a driveway and cuts me off so I have to hit the brakes to avoid collision. Then I notice she’s (the driver) also cut off a pedestrian about to cross the driveway, an old man using a walker. He is kinda stumbling backward with a stunned look in his face. And the car has these bumper stickers – [Coexist](http://www.synchrosecrets.com/synchrosecrets/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Coexist_by_Chima1.png) (with all that woo symbolism), [Share the Road](http://www.zazzle.com/share_the_road_bumper_sticker-128027695354829116), and [Watch for Motorcycles](http://www.hupy.com/upload/stickers.jpg). Boyo Jim, Keep her over there! I think I saw her driving on I-94 in western Wisconsin. No lava ash over here .. just manure piles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-irony-of-mixed-messages/644017.md?page=2)