I recently drove from Newark, New Jersey to Indianapolis, Indiana. It was eleven hours of speeding down long stretches of highway. Stopped mostly only for gas and food and otherwise just kept going. I didn’t play much music, just some NPR. My son was on his lil tablet half the time so I just let him be. I looked out at the colors of the trees and tall mountains in awe, imagining what it might be like to stand among them, hiking through. Cool to see cows and horses too. Just chilling eating grass, living life. Lucky them that they’re not the ones being tortured in a slaughter house. You want to look closer to appreciate it more but everything goes past because you’re going fast.

Tho not fast enough as to miss all the Trump/Biden signs the whole ride. Yes I know the election is next week. But still it’s surprising the see both how much money gets dumped into billboards professionally and also how many houses put up personal posters in their yard/farm. I’d say probably it was 1/3 for Biden, 2/3 for Trump just based on my trip there and back. To me, I’m like what do people really expect drivers to think or do when they see those unprompted proclamations? To feel safe or scared or embarrassed or what? It’s kinda nuts–a strange sensation of scrolling as you’re driving, sign after sign. Nothing else to do but read them, or more like you almost can’t not read them.

-Rachel Wagner 2020

Other pieces I wrote on this topic: “Watch the Signs” & “Reading bill bissett” & “Voting Uncomfortably”