the obligatory ribbon magnet post
You know, I really wasn't going to make a yellow ribbon magnet post. But then the other day I was driving behind a car that had no less than three magnets. Yes, three. One pink, one yellow, and one red/white/blue. This car threw me over the top. I'm so sick and tired of people driving around feeling so self-rightous about the fact that they "support our troops." How in the hell does that yellow ribbon support our troops? You're not supporting out troops, you're supporting some lucky guy in the midwest who happened to come up with these stupid things and made a couple million dollars. (Yes, pink ribbon aside - I do believe some of that money goes to breast cancer research. That still doesn't make three ribbons okay.)
Now don't get me wrong - I'm all for "suppoting our troops." It's a shitty war and they've got shitty conditions and its horrible to think that all these young people are being put out to fight for one man's (or maybe one regime's) stupidity. If they're in Iraq, we should feed them and protect them and make sure they get home safely. I don't understand why anyone would want to join the armed forces (especially in times like these), but I don't harbor any resentment towards them. I just want them to come home.
But yellow ribbons? Can someone please tell me the purpose? Are you that insecure that you need to advertise that you fit in with everyone else? Or is it the rightousness of knowing that other people know that you "care"? Or are you afraid that if other people have a magnet and you don't, then they might think that you hate America?
I'm not really an angry person. I think I may have an unchecked rage problem though.
4 comments:
Without dissecting the war and its merits, do you feel this way about ribbons in general? I think all of this ribbon stuff is silly in a way (ribbons for AIDS, cancer, support the troop etc.). Remember the Seinfeld episode where Kramer refused to wear the ribbon? That was great! One of the political pundits I follow was covering a Hollywood award ceremony, where EVERYONE was wearing an AIDS ribbon. He refused to wear it and it actually turned into a huge controversy. It really is silly. So-yeah, I agree with the logic of your questioning, but I think it should extend to ALL RIBBONS (however, that’s not to say I would not shave my head to show support for sick friend or family member).
To an extent, I do feel this way about ribbons in general. I understand that sometimes people show ribbons in order to "raise awareness," however I think that the whole ribbon thing has gotten out of control. It seems that people now have ribbons to let others know how "charitable and concerned" they are. It's ridiculous that charity has turned into a status symbol; that people try so hard to let everyone know how much they "care." So I guess I do agree that it should extend to all ribbons, it's just that the wealth of yellow ribbons recently has put me over the top.
Oh my goodness, we are agreeing again. What is this world coming to?!?! The stupidity of the masses is uniting us!
Quite so. Quite so. Well put. Those ribbon thingies are plastered everywhere here in the motor city too. (On the bright side, somehow it's good to know that the ribbons aren't just a back-water Midwestern phenomenon. So often I feel surrounded by imbeciles.)
Unreal. I was going to post about the encroaching ribbon phenomenon the other day also. I thought I would offend but now I see that it probably wouldn't matter.
It usually hits me in the face when I'm departing from an 8-hr workday and I'm stuck in traffic, forced to decipher the ribbon code. That's when I usually resort to making words out of license plates instead.
Great blog by the way..
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