Sign of the Times

The urge to put up signs everywhere is now totally out of control: the warning sign, the laying-down-the-law sign, the no-responsibility sign, the do-not-leave-your valuables sign.

Walk around town and we are constantly accused of planning an act of either outrage or stupidity: No Speeding, No Stealing, No Mashing Your Face Against this Hotplate. And don't even think of smoking.

Let your eyes wander for a moment and someone will very soon be barking orders at you - right down to the instruction that you should wash your hands after using the toilet.

Sydney's councils are like a garrulous uncle who can't leave anything left unsaid. There is no activity so unlikely that the local council does not feel the need to expressly prohibit it. One signpost near me goes to the trouble of banning horse riding, as if the municipality of Willoughby is routinely disturbed by the cries of mounted riders in full pursuit of a fox through the middle of the Westfield food court.

Next they'll erect signs banning falconry, witch-dunking and turd-throwing. Well, you never know when a craze might break out.

Nearly all signs state the bleeding obvious. "No Smoking" notices are a good example. I'm not a smoker but I'm sure the smokers have by now got the message: they are not allowed to smoke anywhere. It would be more economical to put up signs at the two or three locations where smoking is still allowed. I'm imagining a windy hillock located just outside Crookwell, with a lone sign saying "Yes Smoking".

Talking about lone signs, legend has it there's a sign somewhere in the middle of a field in Ireland that says "Please don't throw rocks at this sign". I'm hardly surprised. It may be surrealistic - wonderfully Irish in it's droll wit - but how different is it to the signs on Sydney buses which give elderly people advise on how to ride a bus?

Senior Citizens, via the "Senior Citizens Travel Tips" display, are now given advice on how to catch a bus. According to the sign, they should wait at a bus stop and when the right bus comes along they should - now pay attention here - signal to the driver that they wish him to stop.

You may think that in their 60 or 70 years on the planet they may have heard rumours of this "signal the driver" technique. But no, they need to be told. The only problem is you only get to read the sign once you are on the bus, so it's a mystery how the daffy old fools ever managed to get the bastard to stop. Maybe they just copied younger folk.

Further "Senior Citizen Travel Tips" are available on board to guide future trips. Tips such as "Stand back from the curb as the bus pulls in" And "Wait for the bus to stop before boarding". Thank God they mentioned that. I can't tell you how sick I am of the sight of senior citizens hurling themselves at the side of buses in George Street without waiting for them to even slow down. They land - splat - against the side, much like Coyote in a Roadrunner cartoon. If that warning sign can save just one life.....

Well folks today is my one year blog anniversary. One year ago I sat down at my computer and decided to start a blog. If anyone had told me then, that a year later, I would meet so many beautiful souls, I would have scoffed at them. Bless you dear friends who live inside my computer, I hold a very special place in my heart for all of you.


BTW my first post was very enlightening....LOL!!!

PS - I was just reading through some of my other posts and quite enjoyed what I wrote in this one called "Answers, Questions and maybe Wisdom"