Stickers causing a stir

Costa Mesa resident Armida Thomson calls her battered 1989 Ford Taurus her “homage to the 1st Amendment.”

From organic farming to her love of punk rock, it’s written all over her car. The doors, window and rear end of the vehicle, which she lovingly calls “Rita” are covered with bumper stickers.

She started with a “Free Leonard Peltier” sticker, which is now faded and warped, and soon added other proclamations of her progressive political stances to the car.

“Every time I saw a new bumper sticker that said something I wanted to say, I bought it,” Thomson, 59, said.

The car provokes conversations and various hand gestures wherever she goes.

“In Costa Mesa, people usually flash me a peace sign or a high-five, but in Newport Beach I get the bird, or a thumbs down,” she said.

Two teenage boys in an SUV mooned Thomson and her husband while they were driving with Rita down Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa a few weeks ago.

“I’ve seen the stickers change over time,” said Frank Barraza, Thomson’s co-worker at the Neighborhood Community Center in Costa Mesa. “And people who come here a lot notice when she gets a new sticker too. You’ll see people in the parking lot stop and read it and then they’ll get into a debate right in the parking lot about it.”

Whenever Thomson goes to the supermarket, she’s sure to find someone reading the stickers when she returns to her car.

“I’ve had many deep, philosophical discussions that way,” she said.

Although Thomson’s car has more bumper stickers than she can count, only about half of the rear bumper of the vehicle is still intact, the casualty of a fender bender long ago. The rear door on the passenger side of the car won’t open, so Thomson just put a few stickers over it.

Rita was a gift from a friend in Florida. Thomson drove it all the way across the country in 1995.

She dubbed the car “Rita,” after calling it “Taurito” for a few months.

“I had it in my mind that it had to be a girl car, because the last car I had was a boy and it turned out to be a bad car. Every car I ever had that was good was a girl,” Thomson said.

Thomson also is a big fan of music. Stickers for bands like “Tool” and “Bad Religion” commingle with expressions like “Support organic farmers” and “God bless the whole world, no exceptions.”

“Her car is eclectic, which is just like her personality,” said Andy Godinez, who also works with Thomson at the community center. “I was joking with her the other day I don’t know how she sees through the windows to drive.”

Her current favorite is a sticker that reads “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”

“People should always be able to speak their minds, and when you get to be my age, your voice shakes a little,” she said.

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.