On Stickers and Being Nice

I have a dorky secret.

I am a sucker for stickers.

I love them. I would stick them everywhere if I could. When I was a kid, I had a huge book filled with all the stickers I collected. I would carefully peel them off of whatever they were stuck to, and paste them back into my collection book. It was massive, too. It had like, fifty pages, and they all had stickers on them. I would actually give even money to say that my mom still has it in her basement somewhere.

I still collect stickers. I have them on my CD books, I have them on my notebook, I have them on my water bottle, I have them on my paintball gear box.

I even have a stack that I'm holding on to, in case I find something worthy of their placement.

Actually, I would put them on my truck, but the Bride of Wingnut apparently thinks less highly of stickers than I do, and would not like to see our vehicle in public covered with "those eyesores".

I did manage to get one sticker past her, but that's because she thought it was one of those clingy decal things that you can peel off and place anywhere. Until after I stuck on. Hahaha!

Stickers are great for advertising and sending messages as well. They are cheap to produce, and easier to apply than graffiti. That's a win-win in my book! Want to promote your band? Make some stickers! Political allegiance? Stickers! Snarky comments and no money for T-shirts? Stickers, baby! Want to show everyone on the road behind you that you've been to Wall Drug? All you need is three dollars and a rear bumper on your car, and you too can be a real tourist!

Our church also has stickers that it hands out. I have a few of them. One sends the simple message that God cared for the environment (God is Green).

The other one says simply, Love Wins.

There's another reason why I haven't put a Love Wins sticker on my truck: I don't exactly drive like Love Wins. I drive more like I Should Win, Screw You.

When I drive, it's like I instantly pick up the chip that's been on my shoulder, and set it right there on the dashboard, where I can see it and remember it.

And it doesn't matter what kind of day I've had, either. I could be having the best day of my life, and still I will drive like I own the road.

I don't try to cut people off intentionally, but if they cut me off, I'm instantly on the horn. Then when I pass them, I give them a mean look.

I will speed up when people are trying to pass me, just so that they'll have to slam on the brakes and go behind me when we come up on slower traffic.

I slow way down if someone tailgates me. Sometimes I'll even slam on my brakes to get them to have to slam on their brakes.

Or how about this: Sometimes, when I see someone is trying to pass me to get over into my lane, I'll speed up so they can't get in. Then, when they move over and cut me off, I get mad at them for cutting me off. They shouldn't have tried it, right? They should have just merged behind me instead.

And I do all of this because they're doing the same thing. And I'm just giving them what they deserve, right? I'm teaching the whole world a lesson that it desperately needs. The lesson is that you're a bunch of idiot drivers, and I'm the only good driver out there.

So I know the way I drive. And I know it's not loving. And I don't want to put the sticker on my truck.

Because if I'm being honest, I don't want to drive in a loving way. I don't want to go the speed limit. I don't want to move over. I don't want to simply let it go when someone cuts me off.

But we are called to forgive.

We are called to love others better than ourselves.

How would this change my driving habits?

If I changed my driving habits, how would this affect road safety?

Maybe instead of putting the Love Wins sticker on the outside of my truck, so everyone else can see it, I should put it on the inside. Right on the top of the windshield, where they put those little oil change reminders.

That way, I would see it.


wingnut