This week’s photo themes from Nancy (of Nancy Merrill Photography) and Frédéric (of the Daily Post) are respectively Signs and Dialogue.
Combined, these two themes got me thinking about how signs tell a story. They speak to us. They’re informative.
And often amusing.
I love humorous signs. Especially when they’re not meant to be.
Rich has taken dozens of photos of a signs that have tickled his sense of humour over the years. Unfortunately, most of them are buried in his tens of thousands of photographs, both digital and film. One day I’ll have to take the time to sort them out. I think they’d make a good blog post.
But for today, one sign in particular sprang to mind when I saw that Ailsa (of Where’s My Backpack?) had chosen Edge as her word of the week.
Last month, I described how we found the Grand Canyon full of smoke when we visited its North Rim in November, 2011. What I didn’t reveal in my previous post was that as we stood at the edge of this mile-deep slash in the Earth’s surface, we discovered one of the most random and unnecessary signs it’s ever been my pleasure to see:
It’s a good job they warned us, otherwise we might not have noticed the enormous hole in the ground, otherwise known as the Grand Canyon
If you have any photos of humorous or daft signs, please feel free to post them on my Facebook page. Perhaps I can do a follow-up blog of the best ones!
Sue demonstrating just how redundant this sign is
While you’re contemplating the uselessness of this sign, why not sign up and follow my continuing Journeys here at Jaspa’s Journal, or through my website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram?
And if that’s not enough for you, there are now three Jaspa’s Journey novels to enjoy as ebooks! Perfect for Kids 8 – 80!
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It’s sad but true that these signs are necessary. Children’s Halloween costumes have warning labels that wearing a Superman costume will not enable the wearer to fly. Thanks for joining the challenge!
ha. How many caution signs would they need???
The same thought crossed my mind!
We are always atracted by the forbidden!
Well put, Elizabeth.
Wow – that’s a little random!
🙂
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Love the sign – we must protect ourselves from our assumed lack of common sense? LOL I always love the one on the back of the construction trucks that says ‘do not follow.’ Where exactly do they expect us to drive if not on the road. 🙂
Perhaps not quite a sign, Judy, but the best warning label I ever saw was on a poison-filled ant trap. It read “May contain nuts.”
Thank you – I needed that. 🙂
My favourite used to be at the entrance to the cemetery here in St. George: Enter at your own risk.
I just had a genuine LOL moment!
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that sign appears to me to be absolutely necessary. If you look below the sign, there is a gash in the walkway — the sign is actually suspended above it — which means that people looking at that awesome huge hole behind the fence may miss the gash below their feet, and end up sliding down the slopes/cliffs into the canyon themselves. Nothing redundant about that sign at all 🙂
Thanks for your observation, Diane. Perhaps you’re right, although to be honest, I think the sign was put there as a joke. If you look closely, it’s actually a sign to warn people when the floor is wet in something like a bathroom or a store. Also, given that the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long (not including all the ins and outs of the actual rim edge) and most of its rim doesn’t have barriers like at this location, they’d need an awful lot of these signs to cover the entire length.
it may have been as a joke, but from my experience (the office I work in is in a mall) there have been many times I’ve encountered hazzards and have grabbed whatever I could find to warn people, so this could have been the closest thing to hand. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, and have been really close to the edge — and know that most (even in the really busy touristy areas) is not fenced at all. Made me a bit nervous so I stayed a few feet away from the edge. Where there were fences I was really comfortable going right up to the fence — and didn’t feel a need to keep track of my feet the same way I did when there was no fence. My guess is that the sign is to help people at that point watch their feet. However, it may just as easily have been a joke, and it does make for a pretty funny picture.
When we see such signs, we smile and wonder:))
And take a photo?! 🙂