The new Indiana slogan “Restart Your Engines” has elicited a range of responses from Hoosiers, including a few naysayers who have called the phrase “lame,” “bereft” and even “idiotic.” However, the citizens we stopped yesterday outside our offices at 40th and Meridian were almost unanimously in favor of the new motto.

“My car is always stalling, it’s true,” D’lish Johnson said. “All the time, I’m trying to restart my damn engine. It’s a piece of shit car.”

“I had to restart my engine just the other day,” Ned Smitheroo said, pointing down 40th Street. “I hit a pothole so big I thought I’d never get out. Of course the car shut down at that point and I had to restart it and climb from the hole or I might never have made it out.”

Crossing 38th Street along Meridian and other north/south streets is currently a challenge due to ongoing construction. Frequently we witness cars sitting for more than two stoplight cycles and, as a result, stalling in traffic. The sounds of the horns encouraging their brethren to “restart” were music to our pedestrian ears.

One driver who initially displayed an obscene gesture at our enthusiasm was more amenable after we helped push his stalled car to a nearby parking lot. After several attempts he finally restarted his engine, to the applause of the many passersby. We went back to the office and typed up this little story.

Of course, we would have ventured further to interview others across the city and even the state, but our cars don’t work so well no more.