Our World of Signs

Aren't signs wonderful? What would we do without them? But don't you find that a lot of them drive you crazy? Let's start with road signs.

Have you ever started driving through a small town or city on a certain route and come up to a light or stop sign and, as you look for the route number sign, there is none? Then you drive on, guessing as to whether or not you are going the right way. Sometimes you are lucky and aha! there is your route number. Other times you stop and ask a pedestrian for directions. Either the person doesn't know, or the directions are so complicated that you give up and drive on. Or you might turn around looking for a service station—they usually know.

Then there are speed limit signs. Do they mean anything anymore? The sign says speed limit 45. So you are going five miles per hour over the limit and whoosh, the cars usually go by you at much higher rates of speed. And do stop signs mean anything anymore? Of course not. Yeah, there are gliding stops—but they ain't stops.

"No Passing" zones now mean pass and speed. There isn't any car in sight, so go for it. Don't you wish a cop were around?

Boy, what about those "Men Working" signs? Where are they working? Lots of times there isn't a workman in sight. Or maybe there are two or three, but they are usually standing around talking and puffing away on cigarettes. Then there are all those wonderful, colorful orange drums. On some roads you can drive for miles and there are those drums, and drums, and drums.

What does the sign "Slow Children" mean? Do they have low IQs? If it means to slow down for children, then how come they speed by on their skateboards and bikes, even at times on the wrong side of the street?

Fridays and weekends are for tag sales, so you cruise around looking for tag sale signs. There's one! Yeah, but look at the date. It was a month ago. Many tag sale signs can't even be read unless you stop the car and get out to read the small print. There may be a tag sale sign on the road you are traveling—it tells you to take a right. You do, but then never see another sign again. Ever have it happen to you?

"Rest Area," it says in big lettering. One mile ahead. Ah, we really need to use the rest rooms. One comes up to the rest area and lo and behold, it says on another sign: "No Facilities." Great, now what do we do?

Historical signs along the road are nice, but can you read all of the sign as you go by? Traffic prevents you most of the time from slowing down to read the historical signs. There is usually no place to pull off the road, anyhow.

Ever been in a restaurant and need to use their rest room? You find them all right, but then on the doors, instead of "Men" or "Women," there are symbols or figurines. You stand there and wonder which is which. So you take a chance and hope you don't walk in on someone of the opposite sex. Isn't this stressful?

You had better make sure you have your bifocals on and your back in good shape when you go into a grocery store. The unit prices are there along the edge of the shelves, but can you read the fine print? Then, if the price signs are down low, you get your exercise for the day as you bend down to look while at the same time blocking the aisle. Of course, men get a kick out of watching the women bent over.

Well, I've got my frustrations with signs out of my system for today. Hope it helps all of you to know you are in the same boat.