Friday 7 September 2012

In which I am puzzled by a car sticker


To the municipal tip at Launceston today to dispose of some prunings in the recycling bins. As usual there was a small queue and I pulled in behind an estate car with a sticker in the back window. As I approached, I thought how unusual it was that someone had been so impressed with the work of a surgeon in Budapest that they had tell everyone. As I moved closer and the wording came into better focus, it was clear that I'd made a mistake. Doh! Not Hungarian Fistula but Hungarian Vizsla. 

As we edged forward, I couldn't make out the occupant of the car but I got to musing about what message, for message there surely must be, he/she was trying to convey by telling me that they had one or more Hungarian Vizslas on board. What emotion did they want me to have? Admiration? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. You are clearly a discerning dog owner and, by analogy, a person of great taste"). Pity? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. Viscious smelly brutes, aren't they, peeing all over the place. Here, take this £20 note and drown your sorrows with a bottle of fine malt"). Caution? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. I had intended ramming into the back of you but now I'll aim for that carload of Pomeranian Poodles instead"). And so on...and on... 

I'd love to say that, when we reached the bins, the driver got out and threw two fighting dogs into the recycling pile. But no, a pleasant looking female emerged and, very daintily, disposed of some branches. Now here's the thing, there were no dogs in her car! What does that mean? Should her sticker have read, more accurately, 'Hungarian Vizsla not on board' or 'Hungarian Vizsla sometimes on board' or 'I've love to have an Hungarian Vizsla on board but I can't afford the upkeep'?. And so on...and on.... 

Putting on my old curmudgeon's hat, I wonder if people who put stickers on their cars really think that a 4 inch x 12 inch piece of printed plastic is going to make me change my mind about some subject or make me think that they are better people? I want to be one of the first to tell them that it will not. Having said that, I suppose that the piece of plastic acts as their little soapbox and I shouldn't fault them for expressing their views (however misguided they are!). 

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