Psycho bumper sticker encounter on the streets of San Francisco

[UdoKier]

Okay, it was a very minor encounter, but this IS San Francisco...

Today, I was driving the kids home from school along Geary in San Francisco, wife in the car, when a 40-50 year old guy in a late-model black Chrysler sedan pulled up alongside us and started staring. At first, I looked over and thought he was trying to tell us something. When I made eye contact, he gave me a deranged dirty look of disgust and drove off.

Then I realized it must be my bumper stickers. I have a "W" with the international "no" symbol, and one with a pic of Dumbya making one of his typical ugly mean dumb smirks that says "Beneath Contempt."

I have to drive the kids to El Paso, TX for the holidays next week, through California's central valley, Arizona, and SW New Mexico. My first inclination is to keep them on for the trip, as I feel pretty defiant about this, but if there are psychos like that in SF, where 80% of the people HATE Bush, what kind of craziness should I expect on the road? The trucker from "Duel"?

I think I'll at least bring along mace and a baseball bat...

[superconnected]

1. just another instance

they take any diss of Bush way too personally.

They really are psycho.

I wonder if they were this way with Regan and Bush Sr. It isn't healthy. I'm certian there are some that would hurt you if they got you alone.

[Cha]

6. And I take any idolization of

bush.. personally!

[lebkuchen]

2. There are only a handful of pockets in the US where dissent is allowed

anymore.

Don't learn that the hard way, not with kids on board.

[Dimsdale]

3. Just put a "FW" sticker on my ride...

we'll see if it's worse than having a Kerry/Edwards sticker attached. With the K/E sticker, I had dickheads tailgating, staring, along with the contempt looks to which you refer. Fuck them. When Chimpy sets up his version of the SA, these people will be the first to volunteer.

[Fridays Child]

4. You have to decide for yourself but, if it were me...

...I wouldn't let that guy win. He wants your stickers to disappear. Who the hell is he to coerce you?

[LeftCoast]

5. That guy must go around pissed off all the time

If he's driving around regularly in SF, he's going to be seeing far worse stickers than yours (in terms of being anti-bush). I actually see a surprising number of pro-Bush stickers here in SF, especially on the west side of town...

[UdoKier]

8. Yes, after the election I see a few more of them.

Luckily, they are few enough that I'm still appalled every time I see one.

[LeftCoast]

14. I hadn't noticed, but it does seem like there are a few more

now than prior to the election. Weaslie bastards.

[Book Lover]

12. Down the coast a bit, it's the same

In Pacifica, I have seen a real increase in * bumper stickers since the election. Pisses me off - too chickenshit to wear your colors when it was dangerous, but now the election's over, you can crawl out from under your rock and say how you feel. Gutless.

[UdoKier]

18. Well, and considering how I feel about Bush...

The stickers are very subdued. If I was to put my real feelings up, it would be profanity-laced and would probably get me arrested by Fatherland Security. I despise Bush and his crowd with a fury that burns like a thousand suns. He is a human pile of dung not worth to breathe the same air as decent folk. There is no sentiment too contemptuous for him as far as I'm concerned.

My original concept (You can make the stix yourself at www.makestickers.com) was one with the Bush pic, and block letters saying either "MURDERER" or "GIGGLING MURDERER".

[LeftCoast]

20. I've wanted to make up a bumper sticker for a while now

but it's just so hard to put all my anger into a sticker.

[UdoKier]

21. Sadly, a lot of liberal friends here in the Bay Area are anti-Bush...

but they still seem to think we are in America, like it was just another Reagan or something. When I get worked up about this stuff in conversations, they don't disagree, but I see this amazing complacency that is very disturbing...

[LeftCoast]

24. They're caught in the "It can't happen here" trap

It's like all of US society just assumes democracy will continue along it's merry way without them having to do a single thing...

[NMDemDist2]

7. I live in AZ and you should be fine here

NM is mostly Dem

Texas would be my only worry :)

add a "Jesus" fish and you should be fine, by the time they figure out what that's all about, you'll be gone LOL

[UdoKier]

9. El Paso is solid blue. No problem there.

But there are nutjobs everywhere...

[DS1]

10. Oh no, not Road-Stinkeye

:scared:

[Piperay]

11. I live in Los Angeles County and

I wouldn't feel safe even here with bumperstickers. Ever since Nov 2nd I have seen more and more chimp/dickie stickers appearing on cars than there was BEFORE the election. x(

[zappaman]

23. thank you for the LA county post

I thought I was crazy! There are way more B/C stickers now than leading up to the election. Why is that? Even seeing some in Venice, which blows my mind...

[trueblueliberal]

13. I live in Texas

and you can't even put a Peace symbol on your car without getting harrassed. Believe me, there are plenty of nuts around, I would advise removing the stickers for your trip. Some day this madness will pass (I hope soon).

[UdoKier]

15. El Paso is not Texas.

Not really. I have family in the "real" Texas, and they couldn't be more opposite.

El Paso is pretty much like a poorer version of Tucson, AZ.

[villager]

16. wondered the same thing when I took a fall drive to Az

where I was to stay with Repubbie Mormon cousins (!). Had a "Defend America, Defeat Bush" sticker on my car, but then the whole thing was rendered moot when "mechanical issues" required me to rent a car instead.

I'm in SoCal (though a Bay Area native -- a long expatriation!), and likewise still get appalled every time I see a sticker proselytizing for the new regime.

Another SF question (and not thread hijack): How to keep rooting for the Giants in light of Bonds' steroid use?

[Swamp Rat]

17. I made that trip two years ago

My brother lived on Jones between Post and Geary. I drove to El Paso where my cousins live (and just outside, across the border in New Mexico).

SF is VERY safe compared to down here. Be especially careful on I-10, though the worst of it is East of San Antonio... lots of psychos in Texas.

Btw, I recommend driving from Bakersfield up to Zions, then down into the Grand Canyon (Hwy 89), and go South through Arizona. I crisscrossed the Painted Desert until Sedona (more family) then went South to I-10.

The only bad part of my trip was driving through Texas, though I didn't encounter any difficulties. It took me exactly 15 hours to drive from El Paso to New Orleans... which wasn't fast enough.

[Nypsychtrst]

19. check this one out

My rabbi has one that says:
Democrats HARD on fetuses
SOFT on terrorists!

Not what you'd think a Rabbi would have on his car, huh?

[UdoKier]

22. Maybe you should change synagogues?

Are you going to the one Dr. Laura went to before she got bored of Judaism and converted back to Christianity?

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[UdoKier]

28. That's not what I meant.

There are reform, conservative, hasidic, and I believe Dr. Whore-a was a Chabad Lubavitch follower.

Maybe a more liberal jewish sect?

[idiosyncratic]

25. After seeing that, I would cease attending that synagogue

n/t

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OnionPatch]

29. So I'm not crazy.......

I KNOW I see more W stickers than before! I don't know why I'm surprised. It's just like them to purposely put them on to gloat.

I want to say no way should you take them off but it's for you to decide. But personally I would never take my stickers off. Screw them. They need to keep in mind that we aren't all a bunch of little Nazis. Yesterday I was riding around town (a very red town) cursing (to myself) at all the W stickers and feeling very, very alone. Then I saw a car with a K/E sticker and I can't even tell you how much better it made me feel to know there are others and I'm not alone.

By the way, have you all seen the ones that say DUB? Those are Bush stickers, aren't they, or is it some new company logo? (It amazes me how many right wingers allow themselves to be free advertisers for corporations.)