Just as we were growing weary of reading some 30-plus years of bumper stickers, they seem to have all but disappeared from the vehicular landscape. Maybe you've noticed too that there are now very few cars, trucks and vans that have even one slogan plastered on the bumper or rear window offering some bit of wisdom, some perhaps not so wise.

While we found many amusing and others clever, there were those that were offensive, even insulting. But what did this fad really say about out culture?

As with any hot item that is latched onto by Americans and replicated ad nauseum, bumper-stick mania seemed to indicate that while we believe ourselves to be individualistic and strive to prove it with catchy phrases or expressions, what any fad clearly demonstrates is how we all become more alike than not.

Maybe the trend also demonstrated how much we truly try to believe that we each matter and our opinions count somewhere in that big social or political arena.

But in reality most of us are rarely seen and certainly not heard. Somehow it seemed that sharing our opinions about who we are with strangers while zooming down the highway made us feel important.

Now, it's not that we want to prevent folks from expressing their views -- especially when they agree with us! But even when they don't, we understand how frustrating it is to feel like no one is listening. We went through our own bumper sticker phase by putting one of our all time favorites -- "Defend Your Right to Arm Bears" -- on a 67 VW Beetle.

We were convinced at that youthful time in our lives that this statement would make folks realize that it was wrong and cruel to kill animals and that "Make Love and Not War" pasted next to it was such a reasonable request.

Well, who could argue with such sound logic? Killing and violence was such a bad thing and all we had to do was stop -- stop buying and selling guns, stop killing innocent animals and stop killing perhaps not-so-innocent human beings.

Simple huh? These many years later we still believe in those ideals and would readily post the same stickers on our cars, but we have learned that saying it doesn't make it so. Effecting change is just not as easy as posting a sign. And trying to convince others that change is necessary and a good thing is quite a major undertaking.

Moving to the current decade, we have a new information highway. E-mail has been around for awhile, and now that we have second (maybe even third) generation users we know most of you are used to seeing the many different quotes that folks attach to the signatures in their e-mail messages.

These quotes seem to have replaced bumper stickers, and while it's possible that they may reach even more folks given the speed and expanse of electronic communication, we question whether they will be any more effective in improving quality of life.

We know they are meant to be entertaining or inspiring, and some send messages of hope, peace or, at the very least, indicate the sender's attempt to improve our cultural ethos or brighten the day.

One of our favorite and oft-used quotes is, "We must be the change that we seek in the world," from Mahatma Gandhi. What could be more inspirational and less threatening than asking folks to live up to their own anticipations by setting a good example? And that certainly typifies good ole American ingenuity based in self-reliance and determination.

What we think is happening once again is mistaking that concept of "freedom of speech" and "freedom to express who you are" with the reality of effecting real change and making a difference. Well, maybe not a mistake but rather a manifestation of the frustration folks feel in being overwhelmed by a seeming lack of personal influence over those many things that effect our lives.

We know that change happens: from bumper stickers to e-mail, we've gone from an unpopular war in Viet Nam to an unpopular war in Iraq and even expanded to various other world locations. We've experienced economic depression to economic growth and prosperity and back to economic depression.

We've progressed from mass killing of wildlife to programs of endangered species protection and now a return to mass killing of wildlife. We've seen exploitation of the earth and celebrations of Earth Day and now a return to mass degradation of our natural resources while selling "green living" at a cost most of the world population can't afford.

Yes, change certainly happens, and the more things change the more they stay the same (someone important said that once we think).

Reflecting a bit more positively, civil rights legislation was passed and has remained in effect, but there are those who would overturn affirmative action. Women gained legal access to abortion and with it a sense of empowerment over their own health care and motherhood status. But this freedom has been challenged repeatedly by those who would take away these choices.

Last, but certainly not least from our perspective, we've seen the LGBTQI community go from the silence of closets to out, loud and proud. And while never returning completely to a state of silence, the battle for legal and societal integration has certainly been one of ups and downs.

On the plus side, our issues are recognized and discussed at all levels of government. But on the other, only one state, Massachusetts, has legally recognized lesbian and gay marriage. We have heard, by the way, that this decision has proven a plus for the state because of a large influx of highly qualified couples relocating to Massachusetts, thereby increasing their pool of personnel resources.

Obviously, this is a brain drain for other states and something that, oh, for instance, Indiana should consider next time the "anti"-marriage amendment pops up for discussion.

Vermont New Jersey have legalized civil unions for lesbians and gays, but they are discovering that such unions don't adequately meet the same legal criteria as would full marriage. Some states and cities offer domestic partners or some version of civil unions, but these are clearly not the majority.

Other states and cities are working to add anti-LBGT legislation into their constitutions. And we still don't have employment protections, work place protections, gender identity or sexual orientation protections.

Yes, we know you've heard this all before, but our point is that even after years of bumper stickers, e-mail slogans and quotes, and various other forms of shouting out about inequity, the legal accomplishments and protections achieved by and for our community are still quite abysmal.

It's discouraging enough to make us run right out and slap huge rainbow stickers all over our cars. Would it make any difference? Probably not, but we might feel better.

Sometimes any action, regardless of how small, is better than no action, and we have to believe that eventually we will win. After all, back in our bumper sticker days it would have been unthinkable to see presidential candidates on Saturday Night Live.

But here we are, some 30 years later, and the candidates, even the ultra-conservative ones, dare to appear on a show once considered to be on the outside of the mainstream and is still famous for scathing political satire.

That must be a sign of real change don't you think, when SNL becomes a normal platform for critical social and political issues?

We've always enjoyed the show and are glad to see the politicos making an effort to humanize themselves with a bit of humor. But is that a sign of the times or an indication that the changes they promise are just a joke? A lighter attempt to get out the vote as it were?

They keep promising "change," and we're listening, but we aren't going to retire those rainbow flags just yet.

Helen Harrell and Carol Fischer can be reached at hharrell@indiana.edu and cafische@indiana.edu.