Screw Your Stick Figure Family!

Many people display stick figure decals on their vehicles’ rear windows to represent each of their family members. This is not something I would do, but I’m okay with it. I consider it a positive message in a generally negative world.

Many people display stick figure decals on their vehicles’ rear windows to represent each of their family members. This is not something I would do, but I’m okay with it. I consider it a positive message in a generally negative world.

Recently, my hunting buddy and I were sitting in his pickup truck, waiting to be served at a McDonald’s drive through. Right in front of us was a big, four-wheel-drive truck. On its rear window was a large decal of a stick figure giving “the finger” and the following message: “Screw your stick figure family!”

My wife and I recently went on a road trip to Duluth, Minnesota. We were sitting in our car, waiting to clear U.S. customs. Immediately in front of us was a car that had a decal on its rear window. It depicted a woman displaying her large bum and the words, “Back off or pucker up.”

A few years ago, it was common for Chevrolet or GMC pick up trucks to have decals on their rear windows that depicted a boy urinating on a Ford logo. Ford truck drivers retaliated in kind. (I’m not sure who started it and it doesn’t matter.)

Many people would say, “Don’t take these decals too seriously. These people are just joking.” Personally, I think, “Many a truth is spoken in jest.” The unkindness in human hearts often takes the form of black humor.

If you met the drivers of these vehicles, face to face, they would probably be fairly nice. They probably wouldn’t insult your family or your car, give you the finger or swear at you (unless you provoked them). Human beings are more likely to be nice when dealing with people face to face and more likely to be mean when dealing with people anonymously, or when talking behind their backs, or when acting from the “safety” of their vehicles.

How do I behave when nobody is watching? How do I treat others when acting from a position of power? What do I think of people, deep in my heart? If a rear window sticker could summarize my attitude towards the world, what would it look like? Let’s all take a good, objective look inside our own hearts and root out any darkness that we may find there.