Sign Me Up

** thank Sharon for inspiring this rant

Does anyone else have a problem with signs and symbols?

You can argue that it's an animal instinct to want to lift a leg and visibly mark that which is ours. It's also a human impulse and a Constitutional right to profess our personal belief system through publicly viewed symbolism: crucifix, bumper stickers, tattoos, graffiti, etc. But what drives mankind to express ownership and faith through tangible tactile means? Why can't we be satisfied with self-knowledge? What goads us into public declarations of belief and intent?

Now, I'm not arguing against Freedom of Expression. Anyone who has spent time with me knows that I walk to a different drummer (all the while masquerading under a conformist veneer), and I would be at the front of the pack defending this priviledge. But whatever happened to taking time to learn about others? We've resorted to hanging WWJD & LIVESTRONG bracelets on our wrists, crosses around our necks, and Vote Bush on our bumpers in a sort of visual shorthand. Has time sped up to such an excessive rate that we feel we have to thrust our beliefs and agendas under everyone's nose as we fly past? In the event that we don't impact enough people in person, we have to make certain everyone knows how we feel via signs. How arrogant are we to think that we can encapsulate and express our worth via a man-made object? How naive are we to believe that a we can develop an accurate picture of someone else's value through their totem?

What is meaningful to one man is pointless to another if he / she doesn't assign the same value to an action or symbol. One of the best quotes I've stumbled across on the subject is this:

Sitting in a church no more makes you a Christian than sitting in a garage makes you an automobile.

Public Demonstrations: This thread stems from the sentiment Sharon expressed about the supposed "value" of kindergarten graduations. Most five year-olds could not be less interested in participating in a graduation ceremony. Yet we force them to parade across stages, stand in front of a room filled with strangers, and belt out songs about trees & bluebirds. Who is made happy by this pastime? The child who can't stop picking his nose or clutching at his winkie long enough to finish singing, "Grey squirrel, grey squirrel... Shake your bushy tail!"? Or the families, with the preteens sulking because they'd rather be at home on their computers & parents wishing they could be doing ANYthing other than sitting in uncomfortable chairs while their pint-sized progeny square dance? Exactly WHO is being served by these events? Other than being a bragging point for the teachers and school administrators, I cannot fathom who it was that decided this was a worthwhile way to spend an evening...

The long and short of this spew of consciousness is that symbols have an arbitrary value. I struggle daily with a co-worker who cannot differentiate between the concepts of personal perception vs universal truths. Her reality must be EVERYONE's reality; if you express a contrary belief, you are wrong. It is also a trait of humans to draw conclusions from the facts presented, but rampant egocentrism is not helpful in adult settings.