Say What?

On my weekly drive up I-95, I spent awhile behind a big truck with a sign containing the following message,"Just SAY NO to Cheap Freight" in colorful lettering and differing typescripts. IT was from OOIDA the independent trucker organization. I don't know the why's and wherefore's of their dispute- I assume truckers want to be paid more and those whose freight is getting hauled want to pay less and each side accuses the other of being unreasonable, unfair and worse- the website does not elaborate on this slogan, but that's not why I'm writing

Whatever the argument, it seems to me the message is really really wrong- who can be against cheap freight? This truck is blocking my progress on the highway and also advocating I pay more for the privilege? It would be like NEA saying "Say No to better teachers" or the hospital workers union saying "Say No to healthy babies." Talk about cutting your own throat with your own message.

This may have to do with the connotation of the word "Cheap" I think earlier it was pretty always a negative word meaning "crappy, therefore less expensive" (thinking of my mother's comments on my father's K-Mart purchases) while now its just a neutral word meaning less expensive and can even be a positive word implying efficiency ("Faster. Better. Cheaper.")

Note to OOIDA- maybe try "SAY NO to unsafe freight." Probably not any defensible but at least nobody's in favor of unsafety & you won't make the guy following your trucks on the road any angrier.

LAGuy tangentially adds: Here's some nostalgia for NEGuy--a minute of driving in Pittsburgh while listening to Devo.