Gestures

Let’s talk about symbols and futility. Remember after 9/11, the solidarity flags people put on their cars got ratty and dirty. I got so angry seeing the ones that just fell off into the streets, to be run over or mashed into the gutters.

Then there are ribbons. When the red ribbons first showed up, it meant something. Now everything has a ribbon. I wonder what the color is for hemorrhoids. (Okay, okay, we all know what color that would be, it was a joke, people!) I’m okay with it, if someone shows up with an orange polka-dot ribbon I’ll ask what the cause is, and the ribbon will have done its job of raising awareness. Still, I can’t help feeling that the effect is weakened by ubiquity.

Where am I going with this? To Twitter, naturally. When Neda died, it was chic to cover your Twitter picture with green. Now I only see mine and one or two others still covered. The moment has apparently passed, only it hasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think green Twitters will make a damned bit of difference in the world. Nor do I think the dire situation in Iran is the worst thing happening to humanity right now. Sadly, there is a list of worsts. Scroll up, this is also about futility. There is a good argument for the ultimate futility of all symbolic gestures. So what? They still have meaning, that’s the definition of a symbol.

My Twitter picture is green because I cared. It’s still green because I still care.