Outside Counsel

A, out of town in an outlying county conducting depositions, called last night to report that a person or persons unknown had painstakingly peeled off our bumper sticker. I am extremely put out by this. A good deal of thought goes into our bumper sticker selection. The minivan sported a smorgosbord of lefty selections: "Let's Not Elect Him Again This Time", one from our local NPR outlet, "Howard Dean, For America", the Campaign for Human Rights' equal sign, and, just to bring it all home, "Smith College". Sure, it looked like the pinko circus had come to town, but hey, in these times, with so many important points to be made, we felt it important to announce that we belong to that portion of the population that won't go quietly.

When the Caravan retired, we decided that a subtler look was appropriate for our new short, but we wanted to retain a thumb in the eye insouciance. What we ended up with may have been almost too subtle-- certainly it was vintage. My sister-in-law, concededly a second grader in 1972, thought it was some sort of reference to the current Governor of California's wife. I'd sort of hoped that it would be available at the dealership as a regular Volvo accessory, but it turned out no, we had to go on e-Bay. I have a feeling that's where this one will end up, or that this is what the person who took it had in mind. Hilariously, they are abundant and inexpensive. They made them out of paper, back in the day, and I doubt that ours would have made it through the winter, but still, I am vexed and put out. The "George W. Bush: Worst 'President' Ever" sticker that I picked up last night as a placeholder is a pale substitute, lacking in verve and style.