MM#25:

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?

Lyrics from Five Man Electric Band aside, I had some musings on the idea that will lead into another post soon…

Some signs do have a place. Without the “STOP” sign, there’d be a lot more accidents, I’d warrant. Safety first, after all.

But there are times when signs begin to overcome reason. I have noticed people adhere to the message beyond necessity.

For example, I held a job once and witnessed guests would often wait for the proper restroom labeled for their gender, despite the fact that both restrooms were identical, single-use rooms. I, as an employee, might suggest a guest use the “Men’s” room when the “Women’s” room was occupied. Very often people declined and waited.

Because of a sign?

Of course, in that instance, there could be more to it, yes. A perceived level of cleanliness, maybe.

When I lived in New York City I often crossed the street—as many New Yorkers do in their constant haste—even when the “Walk” sign was not lit. I’d laugh to myself and could spot a tourist at once when they waited for the change of sign, even when there was zero traffic.

Signs have absolute power, for some.

Sense

I might be a born rebel in some ways, but I do follow signs and laws and regulations. When they make sense.

Here’s where I begin to distinguish.

When it makes sense to come to a complete stop at a “Stop” sign, for instance, of course I will wait for the appropriate traffic. But it doesn’t make sense to stop forever when no one else is confident enough to drive on their turn. Nor, to me, does it make sense to come to a complete stop, say, when roads are icy and it might actually be safer to coast through a turn—as long as the road is clear.

I often wonder how society got to a point of almost over-regulating things with signs. And now I drift from the normal sense of signs to “signs” indicated throughout our society. I’m talking rules and regulations, job requirements, applications for anything, legal agreements, et al. There’s come a point in trying to cover so many butts that things stop moving and everything sits still. Look at the U.S. government…

Hmm. Well, it’s a midweek musing, after all. I’m not sure what else I’m getting at. These words are just signs for ideas, anyways. And this idea is a bit stale, to be honest.

Let’s go back to singing our Five Man Electric Band Song: “Signs, signs, everywhere a sign…”

Kids At Play

I have been performing a delivery job for over a year now. Often I see a sign: “Slow Down: Kids at Play.” I’m on the road eight to ten hours a day and see this sign very frequently. Know how many times I’ve seen those kids out playing on those streets? None. None times. Ok, maybe once. But I could see them without the sign. Logic and the preservation of life told me to slow down, not a sign.

Make sense. Not signs. I guess that’s my point.

Well, I’m done musing. What are your thoughts, oh empty-seeming void of the internet? To whom do I write these cryptic sign words? Please introduce yourselves, if you will.

Many blessings to all,

Matthew