This column, written by LVEDC President & CEO Don Cunningham, originally appeared in The Morning Call and on the newspaper’s website on Sept. 15, 2024.
I was in traffic the other day when I looked up and noticed the bumper sticker on the car in front of me that read, “You Matter.” 
My mind had been adrift at that moment. I was listening to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” on the radio and trying to understand the song lyrics and pondering if they made any sense. It was not deep thinking.
“Hold me closer, tiny dancer…”
How tiny was this dancer? How was she supposed to hold him closer?
Like a dog running after a stick that ends up chasing a leaf, my traffic-addled and desensitized brain shifted to the bumper sticker.
I checked the car to see if it was a corporate vehicle. I thought maybe “You Matter” was a marketing slogan. Not as I could tell.
This was just a well-meaning person sending a message to fellow drivers — complete strangers — sharing the same road.
It made sense. We all matter. I hope we all matter to someone.
Self-esteem and a sense of self-worth are essential in life.
As with all positive, public service messaging it’s questionable if just reading them is effective but, hey, a reminder doesn’t hurt. There are times, however, especially on social media, when people confuse the idea that they matter with their opinions — on everything — mattering.
We live during an age of no restraint. It’s a time of instant experts who possess the unwavering confidence to share all their thoughts, regardless of how recently they acquired them, with everyone they’ve ever met.
This is heightened during a national election year.
I remember as a kid being told by teachers, coaches, parents and relatives that God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. Having and expressing an opinion on everything is not necessary. Sometimes it’s wiser to just keep your mouth shut and listen.
We may not have realized it then, but those old lessons were the foundation of civil society. It kept families together, neighbors talking and communities intact.
“Think before you speak” and “choose your battles wisely” were more than quaint notions or pithy entries in Poor Richard’s Almanac. They are part of the glue that holds a democratic republic together and allows people of different beliefs, backgrounds and persuasions to bond and share community.
I was a paper boy growing up in my Bethlehem Township neighborhood during the 1970s and 1980s. I knew nearly every neighbor’s name across a dozen streets of Birchwood Farms in Miller Heights.
What I didn’t know, nor did my parents, was how they voted, their party registration, stance on vaccines and masks, viewpoints on immigration or their latest grievance. What we knew were the names of their kids, if the grandparents lived with them, and who liked to water their lawns and driveway, had swimming pools, or a refrigerator in the garage stocked with beer.
That’s where my dad would be most nights after dinner, unless those neighbors were at our house.
I’m glad I never knew in real time how Mr. Musselman felt about a presidential debate.
This didn’t mean that people were any less passionate about their beliefs, principles and values. They were rock solid Americans, some Democrats, some Republicans, some more liberal or conservative than others. But that wasn’t their brand, their identity, their first question or point of discussion.
Many of them had lived through tough times, fought wars, worked hard jobs, and were focused on making a better life for themselves and their families. Their focus and conversations were more on the unifiers: church, school, work, little league, the youth football association, family and neighborhood.
They didn’t feel compelled to share every thought. And, most often, those shared were limited to what they knew best. There was more openness to viewpoints because they didn’t view themselves as intellectual masters of the universe.
I’m not sure when it all changed. But I know that search engines and social media sites had a lot to do with it.
In the end, the internet and social media are means of communication. How we choose to use them is a personal decision.
As newspapers change, they could no longer afford to publish birth notices, weddings, engagements and anniversary news. Obituaries are self-written and require payment, and there’s no longer space for youth sports results, high school honor rolls or college graduations.
These are life’s unifiers. Things we all share.
We lose something when we lose this connection. People are interested in people. That will never change.
Maybe Facebook is a poor alternative to the old afternoon newspaper or the backyard conversation or beer in the garage, but it can be as useful of a tool to connect us as it is to divide us.
As the bumper sticker said, “You Matter.”
You’re in control. Keep posting the grandkid updates and vacation photos. Spare us the newfound Google expertise in science but, hey, I’d welcome any thoughts on what’s going on in those Tiny Dancer lyrics in the Elton song.