By Bradley Beck | Commentary, KimMonson.com
In a small town lived a man who went by the name of Old Ned. He was a bit of a curmudgeon who liked engaging with people with his not so politically correct stickers plastered on his old truck. These stickers ran the gamut from provocative to humorous, to bordering on being offensive.
Old Ned would park his truck around the town square and attract people passing by who would stop and gawk and read the hundreds of stickers plastered from roof to tailgate. Many would laugh, others would be horrified and walk on, and occasionally someone would stop a passing policeman to complain about the offensive words on the stickers, only to be told by the officer, “It’s called free speech.”
When people noticed Old Ned sitting on the park bench across from the truck, they asked him if it was his. He would reply, “Yep, my stickers are my way of expressing my views, like ‘em or not.” With a wry twinkle in his eye he would continue, “If people don’t like it, they can look the other way. I’m not here to please anyone but to help people think.”
I love characters like Old Ned. They challenge the reader to stop, notice, and absorb the ideas and comments. In the sound bite world of today even if it’s a bumper sticker idea, it can have a huge impact on the reader. Much like the “X” (Twitter) of today, bumper stickers can plant seeds that can be held in fertile soil for years.