The whole point of these campaigns is to show you support them, financially or with your vote, or whatever. If someone doesn't know what your specific ribbon is for, then they can ask, and perhaps raise the awareness of the public just one person at a time.
Agreed. My problem with the majority of the yellow ribbons: not a dollar, not a dime, not a
cent goes towards supporting anyone other than the company that placed the order to China to have them cranked out of a machine. You have to look very hard to find a yellow ribbon maker that donates any of your money to making a soldier's tour better. To me, they are the epitome of America: they require no work (you just buy 'em), they don't mean much (none of your money goes anywhere),
they're tacky as all hell, and just like honest troop support found throughout the public, the trend is as temporary as the magnet that holds the sticker to your vehicle.
Write a soldier a heartfelt letter describing your appreciation for what they do for the country or spend $5 on a magnet at a gas station? Send a care package to someone in Afghanistan or stick a nylon cutout of Calvin peeing on Osama's head to your window? Wave and cheer at a Welcome Home parade or
make a hidden political statement with a sticker? Current issues of such severity, I always thought, should be treated with a lot more respect when so many lives of Americans are on the line. I'm positive that the people that try to make a statement with these stickers and magnets mean well, I just think that its all effort in the wrong direction.
...or, who knows? Maybe soldiers that come home and see the highways swamped with vehicles that have yellow ribbon magnets on them feel honored and warmed by the sight. Maybe families that have sent their son or daughter to Iraq feel a sense of community as they're sitting at a stoplight? Maybe those little images of crosses, twin towers, yellow ribbons, terrorist hunting permits, crying eagles, and American flags do a lot of good and I just don't see it?