January 12, 2009

support magnet addiction therapy

Today i saw a van (down by the river, no less!) that had no fewer than 10 magnetic 'cause' ribbons it. Autism awareness, breast cancer research, POW memorial, MIA memorial, generic patriotism, September 11th....etc. i didn't feel like tailing the woman home just make a complete list.
We've all heard the quote: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." It seems this person interpreted that as "If you don't stand for everything, you'll fall down"...or something. When it comes to charity or 'support' in this context, does the 'quality before quantity' rule apply? Or is it jaded of me to question whether there's a point where people are just committed to commitment, rather than committed to a cause? i'm addicted to Orbit bubblemint, so it's not illogical that someone else can be addicted to the high from having a reputation as a philanthropist.
Then again, there are amazing people out there who give and give and give and truly support what they believe in. Maybe this driver is a breast cancer survivor with an autistic child and POWs and MIAs in her family. Quite possible. On the other hand, what purpose do those magnets serve? They don't say "Ask me how you can help find a cure for Autism!" Sure, the money you pay for the magnet goes toward that purpose, but after that, what does it communicate to other drivers? That you should let them in your lane because you're a giving, supportive person, that's what.The thing about the causes so widely proclaimed from tailgates is that they're the most well-known, 'popular' causes already, so it's not like you're actually raising any awareness about breast cancer by having a pink ribbon on your car. No one sees one of those and goes 'WHAT? Cancer? of the breast???! i never thought it possible!' You don't exactly see very many Calvarial Hyperostosis Awareness ribbons.
Ultimately these magnets just say 'This is a reality and it sucks.' (unless they're the puzzling kind that just say 'CHIHUAHUAS!!!'....actually, chihuahuas ARE an unfortunate reality...) They're meant as some sort of not-so-secret handshake between folks dealing with the same problems, a simple 'me too.' To that end, i can appreciate them, but i maintain there are at least 80 bajillion more classy ways of accomplishing the same purpose.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard the results of a study once that indicates the person most likely to exhibit road rage is the one with the most bumper stickers. Don't know if that includes magnetic cause ribbons or not.

Anonymous said...

who's to say this person is not a victim of some type of magnet bandit vandalism?

I think the real issue here is that bumper magnets show us that we don't really care about things any more... Bumper magnets are a temporary compassion... unlike their predecessor, the bumper sticker, you can just take your "Support Autism" magnet off whenever supporting Autism isn't cool anymore. Maybe thats in a week, maybe thats next year... maybe its whenever radiohead and pearl jam stop going to the bridgeschool benefit.

I think if someone wants to really support a cause, they'll be brave enough to plaster the back of their car with a good ol fashioned, bitch to get off, bumper sticker... the kind that reminds you someone voted Gore/Liberman in 2000