Back in the early 1980s I realized that
most people don't think about electricity the way I do. For the most
part they just flip the switch and take it for granted that the power
will flow. They don't see the carbon footprint of the act. They aren't
aware of what a remarkable feat of cooperation makes that possible.
It's baffling to me what it would take to change that.
Back in the 1990s I started thinking
about how pictures connect us. It started when I was at a California
Communities Against Toxics event. One of the activists was showing off
her photo album, and there was a Picture of Bill Clinton with her
daughter. She said "he does as much of that kind of thing as possible,
because he gets a lot of good publicity from the way the pictures
ripple through
communities." At the time pictures meant nothing to me. Then during my
AOL days I read a story about how having a picture in your office
of you with The President of the United States was a good career move
even in China.
Being a grass roots activist with no
desire for that kind of power I've collected pictures of people with
MEND YOUR FUELISH WAYS stickers for many years. I figure that the power
of good citizenship is a lasting force that I can work with, and using
less fuel is part of making our world more sustainable. Sometimes when
I take those pictures I tell people "you will be able to find yourself
in cyberspace once I put it up." Scattered around this website are many
such pictures. I have no idea how many of them have been found by the
people in them, but I know for a fact at least a few thoughtful
individuals have.
Not that long ago my email buddy in New
Zealand told me that an old friend of hers, fellow Green Party member
Celia Wade-Brown, had been elected
Mayor
of
Wellington. She said that Celia is an avid bicyclist, and
commutes that way every day. I asked my friend if she could get the
Mayor to put one of my stickers on her bike, since I consider that kind
of thing to be "the ultimate product placement." I was pleasantly
surprised to find this picture in my email.
I feel quite honored.
Thank you visitor #3114
to this page for sharing the experience.
I took this picture
during the same time frame when I received the above picture. I have
friends that don't remember when the area code here (Mountain View,
California) was 415. The price of gas being $4.159 is a much more
recent experience for me.