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So I saw this sticker which had been pasted to a lamp post downtown, it said, “Question Authority!”

Now, I’m no handwriting expert, but from the neat and curving cursive script on this sticker I got the feeling that the writer was a sensitive individual with a powerful (if not somewhat tired) point to make.

But the exclamation point at the end… It really makes it seem more like a command than a suggestion. Not a, “hey everyone, seriously, question authority” but more like, “I demand that you question authority!” Which then makes it an authoritative statement, does it not? So the messenger makes me then question the message.

This might be the subtle point. To question everything is a good freaking idea, I don’t care which side of the proverbial political fence you are on, there are creepy loonies in either yard. But I doubt this was the point, it’s the realist in me.

It reminded me of a message I once saw in the tunnel that connects the UC Santa Barbara campus with Isla Vista, the little “town” that houses many of the students and the requisite liquor stores and pizza joints. Where, by the way, UCSB students burned down a Bank of America in protest in 1970. Seriously, a good idea? “We’re pissed, so let’s burn down a B of A!” Why do most college protests just end up coming off like stupid ass fratboy accidents? They end up making a good argument that liberals are whiney little bitches. Seriously, you’re in college, put down the Meister Brau for a moment and think about what you’re saying and doing.

Wow, histrionically went off the mark there, sorry.

But the I.V. tunnel, along with a spray painted, “R.I.P. Lux Interior” (which I thought was pretty cool) there was the message of, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in big, blue, spray painted letters. Way to spread the message of protecting and saving the planet by using a product which eats up the ozone like a stoner with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

So what’s your angry, little point Billy, you might be asking. I guess it’s that messages like “reduce, reuse, recycle” and “question authority” are good reminders, but beware of becoming the system you are fighting. Or maybe it’s that protest is fantastic, fighting for what you believe in is great; but be smart about it, be original and be creative, don’t be schmuck that leaves our side looking like assholes.

Or maybe it’s just that generally, people can be so dumb.