The Prep Guide to Bumper Stickers

An inappropriate amount of bumper stickers.

Something that I've been noticing for quite a while that needs to be addressed is the number of cars that I see on the road with an absurd amount of bumper stickers. The funny thing is, that while the Californian whose car is pictured here doesn't even have that many stickers compared to some cars I've seen. Let's be real though, if other drivers (I mean passengers, for safety's sake) can't quickly read the stickers on the back of your car as they pass you, you have too many damn stickers on your car!

An acceptable amount of bumper stickers.

That being said, here's a quick guide to bumper sticker appropriateness. The rule is easy: no more than four. The car pictured left (my old Jeep), actually has four stickers, but you can't see the fourth, which is a window cling, due to the tinted glass. Another guideline to follow that it's only acceptable to have one political sticker on your car. Anything more than that is just plain superfluous. Also, if your candidate loses the election, you should take their sticker off of your vehicle within six months of the election. No one else brags about losing.

If you're wondering what some good, acceptable stickers are to have on your car, here's a good place to start.

1. School Sticker: let everyone know which college or prep school you attended by having the name of your school on your back window. The most prep are the stickers that simply say the school name in one line. There is no need to remove these stickers within six months of graduation.

2. Oval Abbrv. Sticker: these stickers have really gotten popular lately. Every vacation destination, such as the MV sticker on the Jeep, is getting a 2-4 letter abbreviation and putting it on an oval sticker. If you have a vacation home somewhere, or frequently visit a certain place, let everyone know where you like to hang out with one of these stickers.

3. Sports: show support by putting your favorite team's logo on your car, or show everyone what sport you play with one of those newly popular silhouette sticker.

4. Brand: here's a chance to tell everyone about your style. I have a Vineyard Vines sticker on my car, but there are many others. The most prep choices are a favorite clothing company, or your favorite brand of boat, or fishing company.

5. Beach Permits: this is perhaps the most prep choice of bumper sticker of all. It shows everyone that you love the beach, a very preppy place, and it shows them where you like to go based on the location of the beach you're going to. Again, no need to remove these after they expire, but the back of your car also shouldn't like a history of what beach permits look like for the past twenty years.

The main thing with bumper stickers is too simply not overdue it. It's okay to let your car be an expression of its driver, but it should never be a distraction to other drivers on the road.