Election Lawn Sign Thefts Pit Neighbor Against Neighbor

Depeche Mode had it right when they said, “people are people so why should it be/you and I get along so awfully?” Short answer: we shouldn’t.

Political opinions used to be kept close to the vest or shared in confidence with a few key people. Now, in a completely opposite manner, they are broadcast on social media, displayed as bumper stickers, worn on T-shirts, and shared on yard signs. Every one of our neighbors knows what and who we support. It’s hard to imagine what our founding fathers would think about our newfound public “virtue signaling” of putting our political points of view on exhibit for all to see. Doing so is one of the rights of living in a free America, right? Well, add a dose of disparaging political rhetoric 24 hours a day courtesy of the news and social media, and it’s no wonder people have become, well… not so neighborly.

Take, for example, my little rural(ish) town of Rowley. In just the last three weeks there has been a rash of political sign thefts with about 15 Harris/Walz signs, several local candidate signs, and a couple of Trump signs (the Trump ones didn’t even last 24 hours!) being lifted right off people’s lawns. How did we come to this place of sign thieving and social media bashing? Neighbor going after neighbor, putting each other down, lashing out about people being “idiots,” needing to get their “head checked” (hmm…sounds like Trump’s ‘get your head examined’ quip), or worse, publicly posting racist, bigoted comments on a small local Facebook group page. And yes, this vitriol goes both ways, whatever your political leanings might be.  

Here’s something I’ve noticed, though. The sign stealing, insults hurled online or in person, extreme views, and spreading of misinformation, can become deafening, drowning out the voices and acts of our kind, quiet, friendly, and caring neighbors. The very people who are the backbone of the community. The ones who get things done. Not just for themselves but for all of us.

In these recent, rather challenging years (elections, Covid, and national disasters just to list just a few), it has become unbelievably simple to isolate ourselves from each other, forgetting that the majority of us are well-meaning and respectful people going about our day-to-day lives trying to make our communities a wee bit better. While people may have different causes to which they gave their time, collectively better for everyone means an inclusive everyone; Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, kids and seniors, new people in town and old-timers. Yes, we’re all demographically different but at the end of the day humans living in the same community, wanting the best for themselves and their families.

This is pie-in-the-sky thinking without communicating outside our own echo chamber. Choose to cross the aisle, as it were; if you’re a “newbie,” chat with a “townie” when grabbing a coffee, volunteer at a senior center or an elementary school, join a community board, volunteer at the local food pantry. Put yourself out there, because without adding your voice to the narrative, the loudest voices, the meanest words, the angry sign stealers, are going to win.

Neighbors taking care of neighbors definitely gets my vote instead. But please don’t give me a sign saying so — I’ve had enough of them to last a lifetime.

Laura DiPersia
Rowley resident

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