Among the many things that have changed since my youth, amazingly one of them is signs. This occurred to me when I parked in front of the dentist office the other day and noted that in addition to the ubiquitous no soliciting sign was another that stated ‘no firearms.’ I admit that I have often thought I would rather shoot myself that go to the dentist’s office, but I never thought one had to worry about the dentist himself being in harm’s way.
Other signs that I see would not have been on the drugstore’s front door years ago, among them ‘shoes and shirt required.’ I only wish they would add flannel pajama bottoms, but then I am showing my age.
Some of the signs that have disappeared show that, in spite of still working through racial difficulties, we no long see signs on public restrooms and water fountains declaring them ‘For Whites Only.’ And people now sit wherever they please on a bus or train.
But among my favorite signs is the one posted at TSA check-in at airports. It states there is to be no joking about high jacking or related activities. The joker will be prosecuted the sign declares. I see why the sign is posted, but I then imagine the high jackers of 9/11 reading that sign and turning around from their planned activities. Does it really deter?
Another sign I thought was useless however, is the one in front of every school that declares it to be a drugfree zone – a sign that would never have been in front of a school in my youth. I could not imagine that anyone who was using would be deterred by that sign, but then I found out that the penalty for having drugs in the school would be higher for the miscreant because of the sign. It pays to not make snap decisions.
Some signs are not warnings, but totally beyond the pale in my estimation. Who feels it is suitable to buy a huge billboard on which one puts ‘F***’ and then the name of a current elected office holder. I had never heard that word until I was in my twenties, and even then it was certainly not a commonly used epithet. Now it is common currency among the young, but still putting it in print on a huge sign goes way too far.
All of this gives more meaning to the phrase, ‘signs of our times.’ We really do tell who we are and what we think by what we post on the doors and windows of our hearts.