Bumper Sadness

I really have to comment (rant) a bit on the sad postings I see from time to time - mostly on some forlorn soul's bumper, but occasionally on their computer  case or even a shirt. The clear expression of woe is one that I'm sure you have all seen, and one that is nearly impossible to ignore, once  the implications are clear. The fact that so many people find themselves in need of expressing such an extreme and unfortunate fact of their life would be cause for contemplation even without the additional context. The fact that the condition (which I can only describe as heart rending sad) is so common in our society that one can purchase stickers which express the shocking truth -- indicates to me that our society has failed, and not just the unfortunate few who are OK with expressing these torrents of grief, but each of us who should have been there for them; each of us who may also feel the same; each of us who participate in a world, a society, a community where these expressions happen and do nothing to alleviate the obvious pain.

I speak, of course, of the folks expressing the thought "I'd rather be knitting" or "I'd rather be shining my Ford Mustang" or even "I'd rather be petting my poison dart frog." Really, you can pretty much fill in the blank of the thing they would rather be doing, it's all the same sad commentary on their life. If it's not obvious to some of you more insensitive clods, I'll spell out what these people are really saying. They are saying that no matter what wondrous life affirming experience they may be having at the moment you are reading their sticker, they would rather be doing the mundane thing on the sticker. They could be taking their son or daughter to the airport to fly to Stockholm to accept the Nobel prize for physics, and according to their deliberately placed mass market expression of their innermost desires - they would rather be beekeeping.

How can we live with the concept that there are people out there who have given up on what life has to offer to the degree where they can with some confidence (these stickers do no come off easily) explain to the world that they have determined that no other experience which they will ever participate in will be better than the well known activity which someone mass printed and sold as bumper stickers? Can't we help these people somehow? Explain to them that they should not just give up on life because the best thing they have ever done so far is play Bocci?

If you are reading this and have such a sticker, please reconsider your approach to the rest of your life and believe that is is possible that you may have moments in the future where you would not rather be bird watching. There's nothing wrong with bird watching, especially if you are somewhere in Peru trying to catch a glimpse of an Andean Condor carting off the remains of a capybara or maybe the leg of a chupacabra. Please consider that the best thing to happen to you may still be to come, and may not be an activity which is so common in in your society that your affiliation with it can be found expressed in truck stops and curio shops for $3.95 plus tax. Your life is NOT over -- please do not express the rage, sadness and hopelessness you feel in a permanent way on your bumper, locker or laptop case.

On that note, I'll let you all contemplate the shocking horror of our abandonment of these unfortunates. Have we created self-help groups for them? Crisis lines? Maybe an awareness campaign? No, I can say that we have done none of these things and people that I talk to about their obvious plea for help uniformly turn me away. How can any of you, knowing what's going on - not reach out to the person parked next to you at the grocery store who would "rather be ice fishing" and try to ease their pain? I'm sick of the complacency and sick of fighting this battle alone. All in all, I think I'd rather be digging holes.