Stop it Already

Lord, deliver me from copycat piety.

I was out and about yesterday, having been given Good Friday as a holiday. I decided to wander down to the San Marcos outlet malls and do a little shopping. It was really crowded. (I think about half of Mexico heads to San Marcos on holiday weekends. I heard more Spanish than English yesterday.) Anway, I saw a lot of people and a lot of cars.

You know the first of those magnetic ribbons that appeared on cars to show support for the soldiers in Iraq weren't so bad. But it has gotten completely out of hand. Now there is an unlimited variety of magnetic ribbons available - for the soldiers, for breast cancer awareness, and heaven only knows what else. I'm sure someone has already taken the opportunity to market ribbons in support of whichever side of the Terry Schiavo case you happen to support.

Some folks seem to have completely forgotten the original concept of the ribbons and are now compulsively collecting every version they can find and attaching them to the rear of their vehicles. I seldom see one ribbon on any vehicle; there's usually two or three clustered together. One car I saw had at least 2 dozen affixed. Somehow I doubt the sincerity of someone sporting that many of the things. Is quantity supposed to indicate the level of your support or do you think I'm too stupid to get the idea from only one?

I'm also pretty much disgusted at the proliferation of rubber bracelets that have hit Central Texas. What was a fairly unique idea thought up by the Lance Armstrong folks to indicate support for cancer research has been copied and used for everything imaginable, including local sports teams. At this point, when I see someone showing up with one of the bracelets, I tend to roll my eyes and sigh.

Maybe imitation is a form of flattery, but sometimes it screams laziness and greed. You made a mint selling something unique, so why should I come up with my own idea when I can copycat and make a mint off your invention. And in the end the original concept gets stomped into the ground by all the folks racing to make a buck with copycat products. Pathetic.

Nothing new under the sun. Just do me a favor and if you have a magnetic ribbon on your vehicle or a rubber bracelet on your wrist, get rid of them. They don't mean anything anymore.

LSW