Bumper stickers

To brag or not to brag? 

 I have read several online rants lately against runners in general and bumper stickers in particular that proclaim the driver is a runner.  I have been puzzled about the hostility behind such rants, but since it is of such critical importance in the eternal scheme of things, I will attempt to offer a solution to the battle of the bumpers: GET OVER IT!

Here's the basic debate.  Many runners, especially those who run relays, half- and full marathons, like to celebrate their accomplishments with a window sticker that quietly proclaim their conquest.  "13.1" and "26.2" are common stickers, along with the logo for prominent races (which is really just cheap advertising for those races, but that's another subject).  In the style of "my kid is an honor student" stickers from years ago, these stickers shout to the world, "I'm great and you should care!"

On the other side are the non-runners we will call Jealous Jim's. Jim thinks that runners should keep their celebrations to themselves, because it makes him feel inadequate.  He feels badly that he hasn't earned a "13.1", and isn't clever enough to get his own "0.0" tag, so he doesn't think anyone should have one.  He probably doesn't have an honor student either, but again, I digress.  The argument, as I understand it, is that anyone who has the audacity to run should keep it to himself. 

Will these two sides ever see eye to eye? Probably not.  Yes, Runners do use the bumper stickers to show off.  But they are also claiming their position in the broader fraternity of runners worldwide.  For a sport that is generally solo, it is nice to be part of something bigger.  Does it actually hurt non-runners to look at a bumper sticker for a sport they don't understand? No, it does not. 

So maybe we can come to some sort of truce.  Runners can use whatever bumper stickers they want, and non-runners can ignore them.  Runners can continue to accomplish great things, and non-runners can continue to accomplish whatever it is people do when they don't run.  Let's just accept things as they are, agree that we are not going to change each other, and stop fighting over the bumper.  

Now don't we all feel better?  Great, because it's time to go for a run.  Maybe I'll tell you about it on my bumper sometime.