Most always, the feedback I get from people regarding my car is positive and supportive. I am quite accustomed to, and very happy when I return to a parking spot surrounded by people reading his messages. Sometimes, I find a note thanking me for the experience, and once, a bumper sticker catalogue was donated. A few people have gone so far as to say that Chip has changed their lives.

However, on occasion, I do hear the negative… the rude remarks about immaturity, insanity, or “disturbance of the peace” projected at me in the form of scolding, muttering, or even as yelling from an open window at a stoplight. Of course, most people who dislike Chip are polite—or simply indifferent—enough to keep their thoughts to themselves.

Amusingly, through it all, I have NEVER received a known negative reaction from ANYBODY who has actually read the stickers. In fact, whenever I have had the chance to challenge a pessimistic opinion, by convincing the nay-sayer to take a moment to read the Statement of Purpose or merely a few of the stickers, each and every person has reconsidered their assumptions in spite of themselves… often more than just those about the car.

My favorite example of this is retold in the following true story about my interaction with two senior citizens, whom, I have learned from experience, are a group that generates the majority of Chip’s oral opposition. (Please note that I am not saying that the majority of seniors oppose him, only that they are the majority of the opposers I have personally encountered.)

One sunny afternoon, I walked over to the car to find two older women reading Chip’s stickers. As I approached, one of them asked with anticipation, “Is this your car?”

I nodded, as she continued, “Oh, it’s wonderful! Just incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“ We couldn’t help but stop and read it!” the other woman added.

I smiled. “Oh, thank you,” I said, “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

“ Whatever possessed you to do this?” the first woman asked. “I mean, it’s fantastic, but how did you get the idea?”

I responded with my usual schpeal. “Well, it wasn’t all at once,” I explained. “It has been an ongoing project that evolved over time. It originally emerged from the fact that I like to share my ideas, and then it generated so much positive energy, and I meet so many interesting people. Now, it’s all about inspiration. The purpose of the car is to inspire people, challenge their assumptions, or just cheer them up.”

“ Yes, yes,” she said, “It does all of that for sure.”

“ Oh good,” I said, smiling. I could tell by her tone that this prospect amazed her. She had been a disbeliever. She had not expected to like what she saw. For some reason, in light if my inference, I decided to test my intuition and I went on.

“Sometimes I worry it has the opposite effect. Some people just see all the stickers blurred together, without seeing what’s written on them.”

“Well, it is quite a shock,” the second woman confessed. “You have to expect people to be a little leery—”

“You know,” the first woman cut in, “At first glance, I’m ashamed to admit I thought the worst. I thought, ‘What kind of a person would do such a thing to their car?’ I thought it was outrageous. My gut instinct was to turn away. I even said to Mary, ‘Now isn’t that ridiculous?’ But before we got passed it, one of the stickers caught my eye, and then another, and from there I was stuck. We just kept reading. I was waiting to find something bad, something that would offend me… and soon I realized there was nothing bad. They were all good. And then I saw that one there—‘Assume Nothing’—and I was embarrassed. It completely changed my mind.”

“Yeah, me too,” Mary said. “You’ve really brightened up our day.”

“Thank you so much,” I said as the butterflies soared in my stomach. “You have also brightened mine.”