Short-sighted pessimists

The past week, driving around San Francisco, I've seen the same thing a few times and it always makes me smile.

There's no way of knowing for sure that I've seen what I think I've seen, but I'm fairly certain I saw what I think I saw.

We've all seen the bumper sticker declaring the owner's political views by simply saying "1.20.09." Of course, there has also been, in the past 8 years, the more direct version of essentially the same message that said, "Not My President."

Well these stickers are now one week obviously past their prime, especially in this city. While 1.20.09 is still a fine day to remember, the people with the other sticker on their cars are now, pretty much screwed.

In my years of driving, I've seen a lot of super-faded bumper stickers on cars that range from super-faded to pristinely new. I can't think of ever having seen a bumper sticker that looks intentionally scraped off, and certainly can't remember seeing one that was partially scraped off.

Three times this week I've seen the sticky stuff left behind when you pull the top off of a sticker. The only thing I can think is that these people, eager to show their hatred of George Bush, either didn't think they'd ever see a president elected that was "theirs," or they didn't think their car would last long enough to see the day.

Or maybe they just never thought about how hard it is to get a bumper sticker off a bumper. Well, it's hard.