PLEASE explain those "family" stickers on the backs of minivans and SUVs...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dad here. We have a brand new sticker (the old one wore off) and enjoy having it on our minivan. For one, we are very proud of our (large) family and we believe the stickers make a positive, pro-family statement. Secondly, as the primary driver, I have noticed that risky drivers tend to back-off a bit when they see that there are probably kids in the van. This is a totally unintended, however positive, benefit.

...Btw, we do not fit any of the sterotypes/assumptions posted here -- we are highly educated w/ a HHI over $500K.

I really like DCUM, but it's threads like this that make me think twice about the site. I feel hurt by many of the statements about simple stickers that are overwhelmingly positive. I thought, for a second, that perhaps I should peel ours off. Then I thought again. No, I'm not the one that needs to change...

If this actually happens, which I doubt, why would it be because of the sticker? It's a pretty safe assumption that there would be kids in the van since no one in their right mind would drive one otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe a bit of digression, but what I meant was, our Marine+mom-with-long-skirt+horsebackrider+avid reader+dancer+MMA+mini-Marine+fairy princess+chef+naked baby+dog+multiple cats+multiple guinea pigs+homebirth+veteran+homeschooling vehicle looks funny next to the gleaming liberal luxury car in the driveway of the vacation house, but we still love each other. All you need is love...

Oh good, it's the 8-kid homeschooler. You realize that you're almost as recognizable as the bouquet bride, right? Not quite as crazy . . . but there's still time. I bet you can pull it off. I have faith in you.

I think they're both special snowflakes.

Thank you!

Now when you pass me on the beltway, you can wave in recognition and give the special DCUM sign of solidarity!

Unfortunately, none of us conform to your easy stereotypes, so maybe you won't notice us, after all. And God willing, it won't be ten of us for much longer...

[Anonymous]

I am a grown up. I'm not the one whining over a sticker people are poking fun at.

Anonymous wrote:

ooohhh -- So I'm a cyber bully.

Get real.

What man - or woman, for that matter - laments the fact that people are picking on their family stickers?

Signed,
The Cyber Bully Bitch

Grow up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ooohhh -- So I'm a cyber bully.
...
Signed,
The Cyber Bully Bitch

No, not a bully -- that gives you too much credit. You're just a complete asshole.

[Anonymous]

If these stickers show family unity, then why is that every single woman I know that has these on her car is desperately trying to save her marriage? It's like "Oh look at us, aren't we cute"? While her husband rolls his eyes and cringes whenever he is forced to ride along. I have actually scene these on the husband's pickup truck or sports car. Kind of like how ranchers brand their longhorns.

[Anonymous]

oops, seen!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wait, what?? How did that look? Was it just a baby?


Not the PP, but I've seen them too. It's a baby or kid with wings and/or halo. Usually postitioned slightly higher than the other kids. I think any death memorialization on a car is creepy and inappropriate, but that's another thread.

Holy shit.

But why stop there, come to think of it?

You can also add dead Grandpa, lay him horizontally and put a little headstone behind him. Lay Grandma next to him, also horizontally, and put 'Xs' where their eyes used to be. Maybe add deceased Uncle Daniel too, but add a bottle in his hand since he died of cirrhosis.

Can we be friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Holy shit.

But why stop there, come to think of it?

You can also add dead Grandpa, lay him horizontally and put a little headstone behind him. Lay Grandma next to him, also horizontally, and put 'Xs' where their eyes used to be. Maybe add deceased Uncle Daniel too, but add a bottle in his hand since he died of cirrhosis.

I love this! If the stick family's gramma has Alzheimer's, they can put a little stick figure of her, holding a shopping cart full of items she found by the side of the road, somewhere far away from the rear window. Maybe even on the hood or something.

[Anonymous]

I just read this thread and lol'd.

[Anonymous]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/family_decals.png

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are SO annoying and I can't imagine who would put these on their vehicle (none of my friends) and yet I see them all over. If nothing else, it's a safety issue letting people know how many people live in your house, how many kids you have, etc.

I don't know about you, but anybody can know how many kids I have by either watching me drive by or counting the number of car seats (if the car is parked). People who want to harm your family will be watching you for days, they'll know when you leave in the morning, when you come back, what your family pattern is like, who is most likely to be home on a Saturday, what time the whole family is home, when you leave town for long holidays, you get the idea. Anybody can know how many people you have in your family, before they even realize you have a sticker.

You're describing someone who really wants to harm you personally and you're right, sticker or no sticker, they're going to get you. I'm talking about crimes of opportunity--someone happening along and seeing your stupid stickers and knowing just how many kids you have. Didn't anyone see the Dexter episode where the serial killer uses the stickers to target a family? Now that family was even more stupid and had the names of the kids with the stickers, which I've never seen anyone in real life use the poor judgment to do.

Anyway, potentially dangerous or not, the stickers are just stupid. Why anyone wants to advertise their family size and composition on their mode of transportation is baffling.

I'm a huge Dexter fan and I think of that episode every time I see the stickers. How creepy was John Lithgow as The Trinity Killer?

Apparently you and I are the only Dexter fans, because I did see that episode. And I have seen cars with the peoples' names under them (and in at least one instance, I know it was their real names because I know the kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a mother with a high profile job. I bring in the big bucks. But what's so bad about the mother silhouette with a shopping bag? It's like a synecdoche; it's a symbol of the part for the whole. That mother runs the house. She buys food and feeds the family. Not so offensive. Why are people assuming the bag is supposed to hold something like designer shoes?

PBFC.

It took weeks for people to get back to this thread after googling "synecdoche".

[Anonymous]

HA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe a bit of digression, but what I meant was, our Marine+mom-with-long-skirt+horsebackrider+avid reader+dancer+MMA+mini-Marine+fairy princess+chef+naked baby+dog+multiple cats+multiple guinea pigs+homebirth+veteran+homeschooling vehicle looks funny next to the gleaming liberal luxury car in the driveway of the vacation house, but we still love each other. All you need is love...

Oh good, it's the 8-kid homeschooler. You realize that you're almost as recognizable as the bouquet bride, right? Not quite as crazy . . . but there's still time. I bet you can pull it off. I have faith in you.

Hey, don't pick on HSMOE! She the sanest person here, 8 kids notwithstanding.