Monday, June 2, 2014

Decal or Not Decal? How Much Info is Too Much?



    I saw a lady on the Channel 9 News toward the end of last week. She was being interviewed by one of the very sweet yet serious young female reporters of which the channel seems to have an unlimited supply. The contention of the lady that was being interviewed is that it is dangerous to have those little rows of stick figure family decals on the windows of your car. She said they give strangers too much information. She also warned against the posting of decals of soccer balls or football helmets or ballet shoes. Again, contending that this gave strangers too much info. about a family. So, I thought about it and thought about it some more. Probably for about 20 seconds. And decided that as well-meaning as I'm sure that woman is, her contention is ludicrous.
      

     There are so many things to be frightened of in this world. So many ways to reveal more about ourselves than we might want to, ie. FACEBOOK. I don't think there is any danger in telling the world you have three kids and a dog. There is no danger in revealing that Billy likes football and Susie loves ballet. . . or vice versa. This is good stuff. This is stuff we want to share with the world. Advertising these facts on car windows doesn't make the world anymore dangerous for our kids than it already is. If we stop sharing this information with decals is our next step to never take all our kids out to dinner at the same time for fear a stranger will see that we actually have 2 boys and 2 girls. Shall we refuse to allow our kids to wear shirts that advertise the things they "heart" to do for fear of revealing their love of bowling or madrigal singing.
    

     Maybe we should require anyone posting family decals to also have a bumper sticker that declares, "I Love Dogs and I have a snarling, drooling, possibly rabid Rottweiler/Pit Bull Mix at home just waiting to rip off your arm if you mess with any of my family symbolized by the stick figures above." The gun lobby might suggest a bumper sticker that reads, "Come Around My House and Mess With My Soccer Player or Middle School Honor Student and You'll Get a Load of Buck Shot in Your Scrawny Butt!" I hope we don't have to do that, though.
     

     Be proud of your kids. Be happy with your family. Tell the world about it if you wish through decals and bumper stickers and such. But remember. If you have a lease car and you turn it in without scraping the decal off your window, the dealership will send you a bill for $20. Those stickers are more information than they want.