Where Have All The Ribbons Gone?

I've noticed a curious trend as of late. The ubiquitous ribbon magnets that adorned most cars over the past couple of years seem to have disappeared. You still see a few around but this looks like another fad that's run it's course. Is this because the war in Iraq has become so much less popular? This doesn't seem likely because this trend started soon after 9/11 with the invasion of Afghanistan which was, and still is to a large degree, supported by most people. So what explains the sudden, near extinction of magnetic car ribbons?

I don't know the answer but I suspect they have gone the way of "Baby on Board." You all remember those stupid, diamond-shaped, yellow warning signs that people plastered to the back windows of their cars and vans. It was a phenomenon that seemed to spring up overnight like mushrooms in the lawn. And then, one day, they were all gone. It's as if people were swept up in some mass delusion that they all suddenly woke from.

I think this is fairly close to the truth. The reality is that most people are sheep. They see someone with a dopey magnetic ribbon on their car and they think, "How clever. I want to support the troops too! And there's no better way to do it than with a magnet on my car." At some point, maybe when they see that their neighbor has taken the magnetic of his car, this person realizes how stupid this thing looks and how it really doesn't mean anything and he takes it off his car too.

My favorites are always the people who have like 40 of these things on the back of their car. They have one for the war, one for animals, one for breast cancer, one for Lance Armstrong, one for the preservation of peanut butter sandwiches, etc. These people must have felt like real tools taking all these things off their cars. And what does this mean? Do they not believe in this stuff anymore? Well, I for one am waiting for the next automobile fad. Though I'm not sure if anything can top the bullet hole stickers or the half baseballs that look like they're stuck in the window. Those are just too hilarious. Ah, that minimum wage humor.