Red

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Moderator
Nov 26, 2006
47,024
OK, I got one for everybody...

How many of you live in places where people decorate their cars as driving memorials to dead teenagers?

This is a phenomenon I first noticed around here about 5-6 years ago. Whereas your stereotyped Latino used to only have his Our Lady of Guadalupe icon on the back windshield (or Chivas or Club America), suddenly a bunch of people started appearing with epitaphs on their rear windshields for dead teens. Many of the names Latino, all of them teens. A lot of SUVs, but even simpler sedans like this Mazda I caught below this evening.

In a place like Cali or Texas I'm guessing this is pretty common and old hat. But I am curious how far this phenomenon goes.

Needless to say, I find it bizarre on multiple levels. Not the least of which is why so many cars are decorated with the names and birth/death dates of dead teenagers.
That's very odd.

Never heard of it before.

How many of the dead do you think died in car accidents?
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,795
That's pretty whack then. I feel like it's not as bad as the other banners but it's definitely tasteless.
Just found this NY Times piece on them from a few years back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/fashion/sundaystyles/11DECALS.html

I understand people wanting to grieve. But damn, I'd be pissed if someone stuck my name on the back of some Chevy minivan long after I kicked it. :sick:

To me, that's holding no respect for the dead even when you think you're doing the opposite.

Oh my fucking God! Just a minute ago I got 9 messages on my phone from my girlfriend that she has been sending me today!
Good thing you didn't answer them. Increases the market value of Claudio, you know. :agree:

How many of the dead do you think died in car accidents?
My guess is quite a few. Which, if so, makes it particularly disturbing that the means of their demise is the very thing boasting the semi-permanent memorial. Which is kind of like engraving the names of the 9/11 victims who hit the WTC on the side of a 757.

Of course, the obvious other angle is politically incorrect social commentary about the driving skills of Latinos. :shifty:
 

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