The Road Warrior and the Rainbow Sticker

In the world of Sweethearts & Heroes, our “road warriors” (the ones on the front lines each day, traveling from school to school) experience a never-ending series of remarkable stories. Each one bears a special place in their hearts, but some hit different.

They carry these tales to every community they join and often receive gifts from the students and teachers they speak with. These items hold tremendous sentimental value (to both giver and receiver) and frequently end up in or on their superhero briefcases.

This story began in a bustling middle school classroom with a rainbow sticker emblazoned with the words “Love Wins.” It was given to our road warrior by a young lady who appeared to exist on the fringes of the school. When she gifted the sticker, she hoped it would be plastered on his superhero briefcase, along with the others he’d received from students.

Our road warrior accepted the gift with gratitude, but he hesitated every time he went to put it on, and it remained tucked away in his backpack.

Upon his second visit, he ran into the young lady.

“Hey, why haven’t you put my sticker on yet?” was the first thing she asked him.

“Oh, I just haven't had the time,” he told her. “I’ve been so busy.”

Days turned into weeks, and each time our road warrior returned, the young lady looked hopefully for her sticker on that well-traveled briefcase. Each time it wasn’t, the same excuse came out, until one day, sitting beside her in a Circle, the question hit harder.

A friend chimed in this time.

“Huh, he still hasn't put your sticker on…”

“I know, I know,” he said, fumbling as he tried to hide his desire not to put it on. “Busy, BUSY! Where should I put it?”

The young lady pointed to a spot.

“Right there on that red spot,” she said. “Oh, no, wait, that will cover up some of that question.”

“That’s fine,” said our road warrior. “It can cover a part of that question; it will go right there.”

With the location chosen, the Circle began.

The group played some games and had some fun, and our road warrior popped his question for the day: “If you were in charge of the school for one day, what one thing would you change?”

Passing the Talking Piece to the young lady beside him, she answered:

“I would deal with the bullying; it never gets taken care of here.”

You could feel the room take a collective ‘huff’ of dismissal.

The moment passed, the Circle ended, and our road warrior left the school, but the sticker remained in his bag.

Why all this hesitation?

For our road warrior, it wasn’t just a sticker but a symbol that clashed profoundly with his beliefs about what love and life should look like. Displaying it felt like endorsing something he couldn’t reconcile with his convictions.

Our road warrior wrestled with this tension on his long drive home, the words rattling in his mind: “What’s that briefcase for?”

A voice came from within.

“For the students,” it said. “To sit down and have conversations with them and maybe bring a little light into their lives.”

The truth hit hard: “Isn’t she a student? Doesn’t she need light too?”

With a deep breath, our road warrior pulled over, peeled off the backing, and pressed it down onto the red dot.

It was done.

The next day, in a rural school far off the beaten path, the briefcase sat in a Spanish classroom buzzing with restless eighth graders. The teacher — a woman of color, openly lesbian, and from a tough inner city — watched with a chuckle and a palm to her forehead as our road warrior tried to wrangle the group.

After the school day ended, our road warrior waited in the wings for educators who wanted to come and discuss any Circle tips and tricks to implement in their practices. The ONLY educator to show up was the Spanish teacher.

“How do I connect with them?” she asked.

She explained how many young men in her class didn’t want anything to do with her because of her appearance, where she was from, and who she loved.

“I always knew I would face some stuff like this,” she admitted, “but I never thought it would be like what I am dealing with now.”

Our road warrior paused, then shared the tale of the rainbow sticker.

“I don’t agree with everything it stands for,” he admitted, “but I put it on anyway — because that student needed to be seen.”

The conversation that followed was one of love and understanding from both sides. In a world today where judgment often trumps everything, here were two people, worlds apart in belief, sitting in their own kind of Circle. They laughed, listened, and found common ground in their humanity. They opened up their hearts as HUMAN BEINGS and just talked.

Our road warrior left with a new level of understanding. Just because people disagree, sometimes on fundamental and world-changing views, doesn’t mean we can’t stand up for each other. Because understanding doesn’t mean we have to condone other people’s perspectives. But what it does unlock is the ability to extend grace.

Why can’t all our opposing conversations be filled with kindness and understanding? Why can’t we all sit in a Circle, not to agree, not to surrender our convictions, but to listen? Today, we’re drowning in judgment — secular or sacred, it doesn’t matter. We draw lines, pick sides, and forget that the person across from us is just that: a person.

The rainbow sticker didn’t change our road warrior’s beliefs, just as it didn’t erase the teacher’s struggles. But it built a bridge — one small, colorful span across a chasm of difference. Good people don’t change the world by shouting their opinions louder than the opposing perspective. They change the world with acts of kindness and moments of understanding.

The story of the rainbow sticker won’t solve bullying or heal division, but it is a call to ditch the hatred, biases, and judgment found in today’s world. It’s not an easy plight; sometimes, it’s not so fun. But we must never forget that none of us may have it right in life, our opinions, our faith. However, we all can make a difference by sitting down, perhaps in a Circle with EVERYONE, hugging them, and listening to their brokenness.

We must continue to work towards the fact that LOVE DOES WIN one conversation, one Circle, one human being at a time.