McCain-Palin Sign Found

Options for action

You’re driving along I-94 and you see a McCain-Palin campaign sign lying in the middle of the road. For the sake of argument, let’s say you pull over and pick it up – because it’s a safety hazard. Or else because you don’t think McCain and Palin are in the middle of the road on the political spectrum and you don’t want people to get the wrong idea. Whatever the reason, let’s say you’ve got a McCain-Palin sign in the trunk of your car. Now what?

What would you do with it? Here’s some possibilities:

  • turn it in to the local McCain-Palin headquarters
  • plant it in your own yard
  • plant it in the yard of a known McCain-Palin supporter
  • plant it in the yard of a known Obama-Biden supporter you don’t like very much
  • turn it in to the local police station
  • sue the McCain-Palin campaign for litterin’

This is not some hypothetical scenario cooked up by The Chronicle, although we’d understand if readers figured it was pure flight of fancy inspired by a recent Stopped. Watched item filed by John Weise. The background of the sign lying in the middle of an expressway – that’s true. And one of those possibilities listed out above describes the course of action actually taken by the person who scooped it up.

We invite your commentary on the question of what ought to be done with such a sign – imagine it’s in your car trunk already. So, please, no comments saying you wouldn’t stop and pick it up in the first place.

We also invite your speculation on what course of action was actually chosen by the finder of the sign.

Section: Govt., Neighborhoods

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10 Comments

  1. By Vivienne Armentrout
    November 3, 2008 at 9:52 am | permalink

    Perhaps when this is fully fleshed out, you could contribute the scenario to The Responsibility Project http://www.responsibilityproject.com/. Or maybe you should start a new department for the Chronicle with similar ethical dilemmas.

    I would give it (not plant it) to my next door neighbor, who already has two such signs. He’ll know how to dispose of it after the election. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

  2. By Sandy Z.
    November 3, 2008 at 10:34 am | permalink

    Well, it is litter so I wouldn’t feel too bad about putting it in the garbage (as I would probably do with any other non-valuable, not very useful item that I picked up because it was dangerous in the road. Though I have to admit if it were an Obama sign I would plant it in my yard or offer it to a friend.

  3. By Daniel
    November 3, 2008 at 11:16 am | permalink

    I’m with Sandy. If I had some use for it, I would probably plant it in my yard, but I don’t, so I would most likely toss it in the garbage.

  4. November 3, 2008 at 11:46 am | permalink

    The sign wire is probably worth $0.50-$1.00, so save it for whatever next campaign you want to run or support.

  5. November 3, 2008 at 12:44 pm | permalink

    It’s easy! You donate it to someone like Growing Hope — we use tons of old yard signs from all political backgrounds… we repurpose them by either turning them inside out (if they’re the kind that’s stapled together), or painting over (2 coats necessary if using white, and a roller brush works better than spray pain). We then attached our Downtown Ypsi Farmers’ Market signs to them– which were distributed to residents in our area who put them out on market day to remind them where to buy local– or turned them into signs we use at the Growing Hope Center or at local gardens– we get waterproof paper, print out our new sign, and just tape it right on. Waalah!

  6. By Matt Hampel
    November 3, 2008 at 8:39 pm | permalink

    As Amanda says– turn it inside out, but make it an “I ♥ ArborWiki” sign!

    I think a reverse ethics/advice column would be a fascinating addition to the Chronicle.

  7. By Dave Askins
    November 3, 2008 at 9:03 pm | permalink

    Apologies, Matt, that WordPress ate your heart. I have no idea how to make it appear correctly — that’s what happens when the correct HTML code is inserted.

    To be clear — as I think most readers will surmise — Matt’s suggestion for the signage is “I [heart] ArborWiki.

  8. By Mary Morgan
    November 3, 2008 at 10:13 pm | permalink

    Looks like a difference in what browsers we use. Matt’s heart looks fine on my Safari interface (as it no doubt does in real life). David uses Firefox.

  9. By Dave Askins
    December 3, 2008 at 10:17 pm | permalink

    By reader request in another thread: What the person did with the sign was turn it in to the local police station.

  10. December 3, 2008 at 11:33 pm | permalink

    Matt, I have some old political signs if you want put an I <3 Arborwiki sign up in your lawn.