One of my duties at the new job is to open my boss’ mail. Since it’s both holiday card and end of the year appeal and donation season, there’s a lot of mail these days. One of the groups that we received a card from sent this very simple piece of natural brown card stock onto which was glued a small rock with the word HOPE etched into it. The message, too, was pretty simple saying just “Because everyone deserves a little hope. Please pass it on.” above the Executive Director’s signature.
I thought it was a neat idea in these very trying and troubling times, to send out a little reminder of hope, or of peace, or joy.
What do you think would happen if I sent the same note, with a little rock that said Hope to a dozen random strangers with no signature? Would they take comfort from it or would it freak them out?
I know in these times of war, bad economies, pandemic disease, disconnection and intolerance that I need to be reminded that all is not lost, that the only constant is change, and that there is still a chance that things can get better.
Perhaps I can incorporate it into my guerilla war campaign to change thought. Back in the late 1980s/early-1990s someone got the bright idea to raise gay and lesbian visibility by stamping money with the words “gay money” or “lesbian money” to show that we are part of society. I’ve personally decided to resurrect this concept.
See, the money circulates and if enough of it gets stamped then, eventually, it’ll get to those places that want to shove us back into the closet (or worse). Maybe it’ll give a little breathing space to and reduce the isolation of some scared lesbian teenager handling money while doing some shitty, minimum wage in a place where she doesn’t have a support system. Maybe it’ll make someone who thinks she “doesn’t know any of ‘those’ people” give a little more thought to how her community is actually constructed.
Activist groups and marketers have taken over the urban stickering campaign; indeed, Micro$oft was fined several hundred thousand dollars last year for stickering in Manhattan to promote the launch of the new version of MSN. Most activist groups get pinched because they want to direct someone to a URL to get more information about what ever issue it is they are stickering about and that URL gives the authorities an easy way to fix responsibility.
But what about plain stickers that just say hope on them? Or ones that say Question authority, because we certainly need more of that to be happening.
Maybe it’s useless, I don’t know. All I do know is that I need to find a way to break my own paralysis, not so much to feel in control again — for we never really are in control of our lives — but more a way to not feel so fucking helpless about the world around me.
Interesting ideas. The only catch with “gay money” would be whether people would understand what it really meant – namely that the particular bill had passed thru the hands of a homo [no disrespect intended – just that your blog software does not allow the full word ending in ‘exual’ preceded by ‘s’.] As opposed to something else – like some gay variation on “play money”.
As for the other suggestions – also interesting. But use a stamp, not stickers. Easier.
> What do you think would happen if I sent the same note, with a little rock that said Hope to a dozen random strangers with no signature?
Pardon the connection, but it sounds similar in concept to the plot of the George Burns movie sequel “Oh God, Book II” – a cute concept because of its simplicity. You might be surprised how well it would be received, though you’ll not know, of couse. (As an example, even the hit rate on http://www.bookcrossing.com is very slim.)
I agree that the money experiment is too subtle. You could set up an anonyblog with a short URL with the message, but it’s a big leap for someone to be at a computer when they notice the money. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it probably won’t help much.
The sticker idea seems like it could work well if they’re in areas where people are essentially a captive audience: elevators, restroom stalls, pay phones, buses. (Stamps might be better, if a little more Twelve Monkeys ;-D)
I like the sticker idea, I got a hold of some anti-smoking stickers (like 200) that said “Question Everything” and I cut anti-somking part off. Because I thought it was a good message for life in general. Then I stuck them on blackboards in class rooms and glass doors in popular buildings. I felt like I was able to spread a little light and true in peoples life. My midnight messages made the campus paper the next day. 🙂
I’ve never seen the “Oh, God” movies but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not the most original idea in creation. I guess for me it would be a function of faith in that I’d have to have faith that I was doing good in some small
way.
As for the stamp: you can get four lines in 10pt type on a stamp for the same cost as one line. I toyed with the idea of a stamp that read:
This money was earned
and spent
by a lesbian.
But that seemed a bit wordy for a culture where you can’t yell anything more complicated than “asshole” out your car window and have people get the message.
I have to wonder what sort of hits/visitor sessions wheresgeorge.com gets; that’s been going on for a while, though.
Sadly, stamps probably won’t work for the public thought part of the “campaign.” What inspired the whole sticker idea was a brass plate on this wall outside the FBI building in downtown DC. The plate reads: Please do not lean, sit, or look over this wall.
The wall is about…um…waist high on someone between 5’7″ and 5’9″ inches. The person I was with remarked that she wished she had a can of spray paint so she could tell them that it’s a public building.
The upshot is: you can’t stamp metal, or plexiglass, or any of the other modern surfaces you find in a lot of urban areas these days. A sticker, OTOH, will go just about anywhere. And you can make nice, custom oval ones at Cafepress.com for not a lot of dough. 😉