HOV Lane Stickers: first use; and Bumper Sticker Poll

[drscott]

...returning via 101 from Stanford Hospital at 5:30 PM. Mountain View: same speed all lanes (about 15 mph). Thereafter HOV lane cleared up, but so did the others. Total time saved: 10 minutes at most. No dirty looks. Skipped going to the gym since it was too late.

Now I have to decide whether to decorate the silver Prius to express my gayitude. My old car had this rainbow strip on the bumper:

I was only harassed once because of it, in the countryside on the way to Monterey. But I'm thinking the rainbow does not work with metallic silver. How about the HRC logo:



People may have mixed feelings about their recent effectiveness, but it's a very common sight around here. Or we could have the rainbow flag itself:



Which still clashes, but so does the HRC logo. Then there's Lambda Legal's logo:



Subtle -- probably too subtle, since nobody recognizes it. Colors work, though. Then there are whimsical possibilities like the Gay Curling logo:


Or something nonsequiturish like:




[Poll #744647]

Comments and alternative ideas welcome. And of course I'd do the fish-with-wrench Evolve thingie if I were inclined to bother. Not that I'm going to pay any attention to what you folks think....

Comments

[pagerbear.livejournal.com]

I voted HRC before I noticed that Nothing was an option. I've never been one for bumper stickers myself.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I don't usually do bumper stickers, but as a way of discreetly reminding each other that we exist out here in suburbia, it can be fun.

[nursetomsf.livejournal.com]

Rather than mar the finish of your beautiful new toy with yet another sticker, there's always the option of a license plate holder...I'm sure there are rainbow and HRC versions available - that way you can also change it if you are ever so inclined.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Hmm, good idea. Or apply a sticker to a plain holder. [thinking]

Maybe just that icon of you would do it, though.

[nursetomsf.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, interesting idea...

Tell ya what - I'll give you my icon if you give me yours. ;-)

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I go for the strip and if you can, get the static cling ones that you can remove and simply mount inside the vehicle's back glass. A thought.

I have one, a larger one I'll affix to the truck once I get the rear canopy glass reinstalled, although with it being tinted darkly, I may have to find another alternative for it to show up.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Tinting is the problem with that idea. The Prius back window has an upper part, which is clear but shouldn't be obstructed in any way; and a lower part, which you could obstruct safely but is too tinted to see a colorful logo through.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I have a 'Bear' license plate frame on my car. The truck has an HRC sticker and one for Hillside, plus a bearpaw frame front and back.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

'Bear in a Prius', hmm. Since I'm not really a bear-movement sort (I just like bears a lot), I can't paw my way out of this.

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

A personalized license plate sometimes works. Before I came to California I had "PUPBOY" on my Jeep Wrangler license plate. Those who knew what that meant were always amused and those that didn't just thought I was a boy that liked my dogs.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I'm too cheap (and too wary of being easily indentified on the road) to get a personalized license plate.

So you were a Hush Puppy fan?

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

Yeah, hush puppies, that's it! Hush puppies...

[urbear]

I like the HRC sticker, mostly for its simple aesthetics. The rest are all too busy.

I put an HRC sticker on the last car I leased, a Mercedes C230 coupe. There was a narrow window-like area on the back hatch that shaded from transparent to opaque; I put the sticker on the opaque section, figuring that it would be easy to get it off a glass surface when I turned the car in.

Big mistake. Three years later when I attempted to scrape it off off I realized that the "glass" was actually polycarbonate plastic, and I scratched the hell out of it removing the sticker. Couldn't be repaired, and a replacement panel would have cost well over $500. After a little thought I decided to slap a big American flag over the area and turn the car in as is, figuring that nobody would question my patriotism. And nobody did.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda leaning toward the HRC logo for the same reason. Not too loud, not invisible, just right. And as for polycarbonate, you're making me wonder of part of my back window isn't that... and bravo on the American flag ploy.

[urbear]

The area in question on my car wasn't part of the window, it was a peek-a-boo thing under the edge of the hatch that improved the rear view to ease parking. Does the Pious Prius have something similar?

I doubt that the rear windshield itself is plastic (I suspect that government regulations would rule that out), but if it's not part of the actual windshield it's possible that it might be polycarbonate. You should be able to feel the difference.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

"Ummmm... palpating my car's rear end."

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly -- like a lower window below the high hatchback that lets you see the ground, about 4" tall and tinted. May well be plastic.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Your Prius is silver.
*Everything* goes with a neutral!!

I've always liked the HRC "=" logo, although someone on LJ spoofed it and replaced it with a ">".

I thought it was brilliant.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I first noticed it in otterpop58's icon list. I like it too.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I would not want to be an avowed gay supremacist. Just quietly better!

[excessor.livejournal.com]

Just because you adore Diana Ross & The Supremes doesn't make you a supremacist, dear. Jeesh.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

The rainbow stuff works best on a dark color, esp. black. I actually have a couple of rainbow strip decals already, so I'll take a look at how it would look if I used one of them.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why my 8x10 photo is not an option. You say you love me…

[furfairy.livejournal.com]

Oh nothing. If you really want to put something with a message, maybe you could do a license plate frame. It won't mar your car permanently.

2 worlds collide...

[bearchitect.livejournal.com]

my ex used to have a rainbow flag sticker on his car's rear bumper, one day my dad asked him: "Why do you have the Tahuantinsuyo (Inca empire) flag on your car?"

they both rolled their eyes!! :>

Re: 2 worlds collide...

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me of the more recent confusion -- a peace organization flooded Italy with rainbow flags with "PACE" written across them, to oppose the beginning of the Iraq war. I was visiting Rome and for awhile I thought the city was really, really gay because of all the rainbow flags hanging from balconies.

Balls

[noisybehr.livejournal.com]

You could always hang some balls (http://www.bullsballs.com/real/big/truck/balls3.html) off your Prius

Re: Balls

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

[snicker] That would certainly counter the pusillanamous, cautious-with-the-pedal image of Prius owners...

[stormecho.livejournal.com]

Though I prefer the strip over the flag, I still like the rainbow over HRC. You could put the flag on a magnet, then place and remove (outside) as necessary. I find that we've been picked on more having the sticker on our car, than those without. (Example - in JC, you are supposed to leave some amount of feet empty on each corner. Cars are parked closer to each corner, yet only we get a ticket?)

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

It's certainly possible the local law enforcement community would tend to enjoy harassing you via slective enforcement. Not a problem around here, fortunately.

Magnetic stickers are a good idea. I'll look.

Here's my car:

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

I had rainbow flags on my two previous vehicles (a Volkswagen Fox and a Nissan Sentra, respectively), but on my current white car it seem just a little too busy.

Re: Here's my car:

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I think that's why the HRC logo is so popular -- more sober aesthetically.

[mt-yvr.livejournal.com]

The one I saw the other day that you might like :

"If you can't see my mirrors
I can't cruise you."

[typographer.livejournal.com]

Who cares about what you're putting on your car, where can I get the gay curling sticker for mine?

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

That comes from here, but I don't see any sign of merchandise using the cool logo.