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Pulled over by a honking van

Posted by Wonky 8 years, 9 months ago to News
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A big white van honked at me and waved me to the side of the road today. I thought my truck was on fire or something.

Turns out he'd seen my "Who is John Galt" bumper sticker and just wanted to talk to another rational animal. We chatted for a bit, shook hands, and went on our ways.

It was my first experience of that kind, and I found it much more satisfying even than waving at other bikers when on a motorcycle or waving at other BMW Z3/Z4 owners. In some ways, I wish we Gulcher's had a secret sign and a convention of waving or nodding to each other in acknowledgement of the sacredness of our knowledge.

I'd love to hear similar stories from fellow Gulch members.

I'm leaning against nearly running people off the road to tell them that I appreciate their bumper stickers as a standard means of acknowledgement. I don't see many Ayn Rand references on my daily commute anyway.

At any rate, to pass along some semblance of my morning thrill... A message to all of you: *Wink* I see you and I know what it means.


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  • Posted by DanShu 8 years, 9 months ago
    I have a black T-shirt that asks the question "Who is John Galt" I have been wearing it when visiting town but nobody has asked me what it refers to. Today coincidentally I had a Niece and her Husband visit and He asked me. I told him you will have to read Atlas Shrugged to find out. I told him it explains what happens when Liberals are in control. Then I told him Galt does a number on them and stop's the motor of the world.
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  • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 8 years, 9 months ago
    I was at a gas station which only had attended diesel service. I have a Who Is John Galt sticker on my car. So when I rolled down my window to let the attendant know I'd like a fill up, he said, "I know who John Galt is." I almost squealed, I was so thrilled! We talked for a few minutes and I have him a "Shrug" card, made by one of our dear gulchers here, LS. I honestly don't know if he has ever logged on.
    I also took a picture of a pickup truck in front of me in traffic, which had a WIJG sticker on his bumper. We were on a two lane road, so I couldn't pull up alongside and give him a thumbs up.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 9 months ago
    My son and I published graphic biographies of rock stars, and star athletes. Whereupon we were sued by the agents for some of the Rock bands for publishing "unauthorized" bios. We didn't go that route because in most cases The agents wanted to control what we wrote. They sued us in Federal Court. We won, the judge giving us the same rights as any book publisher. We adopted as our motto: "Unauthoe=rized and Proud of It." That combined with our logo was put on every edition and T-shirt. Wearing the T got us lots of thumbs up and conversations. I imagine Galt T shirts would also bring a lot of attention.
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    • Posted by H6163741 8 years, 9 months ago
      Of all the times I've worn my 'now in non-fiction' or Galt/ Taggart tshirts, I've received only one comment. (Fortunately it was positive.). I did have a supermarket checker tell me I was brave to wear my Reagan Bush 84 shirt in L.A
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    • Posted by johnpe1 8 years, 9 months ago
      where can we get one of Your T Shirts??? -- j
      .
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      • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 9 months ago
        I closed the biz after my son died in '92. Now only my grandson and I each have one. Every now & then we'd both wear them at a mall or movie complex, but now he's so busy being a grown-up and working overtime to buy a new car, I have to make an appointment to see him. Actually, I'm being unfair, but I like it like that.
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        • Posted by johnpe1 8 years, 9 months ago
          Yes. . my "what to say" friend was saying that abut her
          older sister -- "she doesn't bother us." . she was glad
          to say that. . I don't know why -- I always liked Elaine. -- j
          .
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  • Posted by $ winterwind 8 years, 9 months ago
    In my search for a tiny dollar sign for jewelry, I ran across the concept of the "challenge coin", a specific - or specially made - coin which members of an organization were given a) as a recognition sign and b) as a means of getting drinks paid for. The AS store still has the 2013 Christmas ornament, a 2.5" silvery circle with a dollar sign in the center - and they've marked them down to $15. They'd look really nice hanging from your rear view mirror - altho I think the WIJG bumper sticker is better - things hanging from a rear view mirror go by too fast.
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  • Posted by AMeador1 8 years, 9 months ago
    Maybe we could get little golden Galt double lined dollar signs and hang them from our rear view mirrors... You could probably see those from behind or in front - then add on the secret "wink* of acknowledgement. Hehehe!
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 8 years, 9 months ago
    I was approached recently in a post office parking lot for the same reason (WIJG license plate frame)... we had a quick chat about AR, agreed, and went on our ways... I have come to the conclusion that contact info needs to change hands when this happens for future meet ups and discussions with like minds. :)
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    • Posted by 8 years, 9 months ago
      The very same thought occurred to me after I'd driven off. The missed opportunity didn't detract from my high spirits after the encounter though.
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  • Posted by nsnelson 8 years, 9 months ago
    I'll share a few stories. I bought the gold plated coins from Galt's Gulch (the sign of the dollar on one sign, the statue of liberty on the other). Actually, I bought two, and made them into cufflinks. I've probably worn them about 100 times now, and have had very few comments, and only one meaningful conversation (with my barber) about them.

    The other day I saw a real-estate investing colleague wearing a shirt with an excerpt of d'Anconia's speech about money printed on both sides. I complimented him on it, and we got to talking. His level of understanding of Objectivism was wonting, but he liked that part about money.

    Most of my meaningful conversations (outside of this Galts Gulch), have been on Facebook. Last year I posted my favorite quotes from Atlas Shrugged, about one quote per day. Just about 50 quotes. Many of them were ignored; some were attacked; some generated very good and constructive discussion.

    I feel a little lonely as a student of Objectivism here in San Antonio, but I suppose that may be the nature of Objectivists. Many of us want to just be left alone, and maybe tend to be introverted.

    I do wonder: where do you think are the largest concentration of Objectivists located?
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    • Posted by 8 years, 9 months ago
      I'm amazed you got meaningful interaction on Facebook. You must have an interesting collection of friends!

      Given that at election time, rural is generally red and urban is generally blue, I'm ambivalent about where we'd be most likely to be found. One would think that more populated areas would have a greater concentration of any philosophical demographic, and that urban centers would tend to draw more capitalists. I'd bet though, that dropping the top 1% of the wealthiest and bottom 1% of the poorest, tallying up individual equity/net worth per capita on the remaining individuals, tallying up business equity in the same way (Disney drops out of Orlando and Casinos drop out of Las Vegas as part of the top 1%), one could generate a sort of "heat map" of likely locations to find middle-aged, working Objectivists who haven't Galted.

      It seems like a fun project actually. I wonder if I could use Google map API's to generate it... It'd be neat to cross-reference it with sales of Ayn Rand books by the reader's location, or even a heat map of active members of the Gulch.
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  • Posted by tjansen 8 years, 9 months ago
    First time poster here.. I have had the black WIJG sticker on my black vehicle for quite some time... have gotten several thumbs up and beeps on the road but have never seen another one in this state... but reading here gives me hope! It is hard for me to imagine that people still ask me what that means (and it happens quite often) Where to start... I ask them to google it and then just keep reading. I'm very grateful to have this site to tap in to as it reassures me that this country hasn't gone completely mad... or perhaps it has but at least there are sane rationalists to relate to here. Thank you so very much!
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  • Posted by Steven-Wells 8 years, 9 months ago
    Many years ago when I lived in Virginia, my license plate was JON GALT. (Plates could have a maximum of 7 characters.) On my license frame above the plate, I had painted "Who is" and below a question mark. Nobody ever stopped me, but I hope somebody appreciated my plates. I still have them, stashed away, along with my even more ancient plates from Oregon that simply say, "RAGNAR".
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  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 8 years, 9 months ago
    I have an NRA T-shirt that states "The Second Amendment...America's Original Homeland Defense".
    I've received numerous compliments on it, over the years.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 8 years, 9 months ago
    A fellow AR fan with a metal license plate frame saying "Who is John Galt?" passed me while driving home a couple of weeks ago. I followed him home, met him, and handed him my business card with a link to http://www.galtsgulchonline.com handwritten on the bottom. He lives only two neighborhoods over from me.
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  • Posted by dodgeman 8 years, 9 months ago
    Several years ago I saw on eBay what looked like frosted glass to put on your window that said "Who is John Galt" but have not been able to find again.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 8 years, 9 months ago
    how about dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit with the headlights???
    or dit dah / dit dah dit (AR). -- j

    p.s. we saw an old black background sticker saying
    "Who is John Galt?" years ago at a gas station and
    the conversation was delightful. . must've been
    25 years ago. . wish I could find him now. . or I
    might be addressing him here?!!!

    p.p.s. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mors...
    .
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