I was driving to work today and saw a slew of people on an overpass with all manner of signs to sway potential voters’ opinions in the coming elections: Food regulation, “No on 37”, and whathaveyou.  At the precise point where the bridge spread over the highway I noticed that the north-bound lanes were at a dead stop, at least one Highway Patrol car at the head of the bottleneck.  I didn’t slow to see what all the commotion was about, but I assumed (rather darkly) that it had something to do with the political demonstrators.   That many people with such high-held opinions in one place is rarely a recipe for harmony.  Being a cynic, I assumed the worst of the people gathered there, as I often do.

Is it just me, or do people with really bad ideas seem to be the first to line up and scream them from the mountaintops, while people with good ideas seem apathetic?  This line of thinking bounced around my head for the rest of the drive to work and I decided I’d start a blog entry about and talk it out, out loud, to myself, on screen, while all six of you watch.

First off, when I agree with a certain ballot initiative, my first thought is not to leave work and buy poster paper and glitter paint.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been considered a proponent for… anything, really.  If I do agree with something and want others to know, I’ll talk about it to people that I’m close to.  I might blog about it, or post a blurb about it on FaceBook or Twitter.  These things are both lazy and super-effective; it takes about ten seconds and reaches four of five hundred people, some of who actually give a shit about what I think.

It’s always the zealots with really bad ideas who are first to hit the streets, hit the parks, hit the innocent bystanders over the head with hate.  Standing on the side of the road holding a sign that says “Vote ‘Yes’ on Prop 8 & Honk if you hate Fags!” might reach the same amount of people as a Tweet, but about half or more of them will swerve to hit you.  I think the “apathy” I refer to that those with good ideas feel is based on the assumption that their conclusion is the obvious one;  “Yes, all people should be entitled to marry.  Obviously.”  Why scream and yell about something that’s should be understood intrinsically?  That’s like standing outside a courthouse with a bullhorn, yelling “Air should be Free!!!”  Yeah, we know; we get it.  You have to scream to get someone to hear you when your argument is as preposterous as “I should be able to govern your vagina!!!!”

Of course, this assessment is not 100% accurate; there are exceptions on both sides.  What it does do is make me wary of anyone holding a sign with an opinion on it.  I see a person not working, consuming, or actively petitioning for change; I see a person holding a sign.  Life is short, kids.  We’ve all got a lot to do.  If you have time to hold a sign for several hours, you’re probably doing something wrong with your life.  And before reading the sign, I’m going to assume it’s something I don’t agree with.  Because if it was, I would have read about it on the internet, not in purple glitter paint on neon yellow posterboard with egregious misspellings.

Again, that’s just my opinion.  For you to peruse.  On the internet.

Here’s a kitten:

Opinions are like assholes: most of them stink; and they’re better heard, not seen.