Commentary:

The Oddest Sign of the Times

As I said in an earlier post, my kids go to a small Catholic school. For the record, I’m not Catholic. My husband is devout and since he is the one with whom religion is the most important, I told him before we got married, the kids could be Catholic, but it’s not my deal. That’s worked out pretty well except when he travels on Thursday nights, which is frequently, and they have Religion Homework. That’s been interesting…

Right before the elections, I pulled up for pick up at school and pulled behind a mini-van that had a bumper sticker on it that said, “No More Bushit” as well as a smaller sticker that I recall being vulgar, but cannot remember what it’s wording was as it wasn’t so catchy. I was stunned. I kept thinking, “Which parent at this school would put profanity on the back of their car?” This parent knew full well they would be driving their vehicle onto the school premises every day, twice a day, and yet they had no hesitation to put such vulgarity on their car.

I never saw who it was.

Now you need to know, I can curse with the best of them. Growing up in a military family, working with men my whole life (I’m an engineer/mathematician in the aerospace industry), I’ve heard it all and probably said it all. I could probably make a sailor blush just on the fact that they would be stunned to hear what horrible language could come out of this petite 5’2” brunette.

However, I wouldn’t. See, there is a time and a place. I do not curse in public. I will let it fly around my siblings or my husband, and around some friends. Not in public. And I know who it offends and who it does not, and I act accordingly. As much as the sailor would not be offended, I wouldn’t curse in front of him because he might be offended that it came from me. To me, it is common courtesy not to curse in public, around people you do not know. Perhaps it is twisted, but I just view it as good manners.

So imagine my surprise when I saw that an adult would post profanity on their car like that. And during an election, with the country so divided, I considered it not only poor taste, but poor judgment.

Flash forward to the first Friday in May. There was a big Mass at my kids’ school and I attended since my 2nd son had a part. As I was sitting there, a woman who I befriended at the beginning of the year sat next to me.

I must admit, as much as I like this woman, I don’t really know her well. We’ve never spoken politics or anything really deep. She is new to the school and we were thrown together under odd circumstances and found we laughed a lot with each other.

So here I am in Mass, my new friend sitting next to me and she says, “Do you know that guy sitting way over there on the other side of the church? You know everyone. Who is he?” She describes him. I know who she is describing. He’s an attorney and so is his wife. I think she’s a whack job, but he has always been pleasant, rather meek, but pleasant.

I said, “Yup. That’s so-and-so’s Daddy.” My friend looked at me and said, “Reaaaallly? I’ll tell you what, I’m staying away from him. What a jerk. Did you see the bumper stickers he has on the back of his car?”

It turns out he’s the one with the “No More Bushit” sticker, as well as the other… still on his car.

My friend continued, “I have to question someone’s judgment that puts such profanity on their car knowing they’re going to be driving it around little kids, in particular kids who either read or are learning to read. I don’t like him. Not at all.”

It has nothing to do with politics. I would feel the same way if Kerry were President and it said something like “John’s a Jerk Off”. (Oh I gotta love what Jack could get Googled for on this post!) It’s just wrong.

And I am keeping my distance from this guy more so too. Our society has lost its manners and this is just one example. He evidently doesn’t care that there are a group of us appalled he would put something nasty on his vehicle, or he wouldn’t have put it there. But one day… one day some kid is going to say something to his daughter about it and embarrass her. One day, his daughter is going to read those bumper stickers and repeat it.

I am a centrist. I liked neither choice for President and found myself doing what I’ve done in every election since I started to vote. I voted against who *I* perceived to be the biggest idiot.

And every time I see his van with the stickers, I am reminded by how divided our country has become, by how angry some of our citizens are. I don’t ever remember it being this bad…