The Art of Sign Disobedience Part I

Many of my articles deal with writing and the progress I've made in the past several years. I try to share most of my experiences with you. This article is no different, but we’re not discussing my writing. We’re discussing the writing crafted by those folks who design signs and those of us who read them, or not.

But Diane, why are we discussing signs? I’m interested in fiction. How about some grammar tips or helpful links instead? Okay, here's one: It's okay to break grammar rules. Onward!

We’re discussing signs because I’m feeling a little rebellious this week and my +Threshold RPG friends have been oh so encouraging with their own willful disobedience when it comes to signs. Let me explain.

It started with a sign I’d come across during my trip home from Savannah, Georgia.

I couldn't help but wonder if the crow’s attempt at stirring my muse was a bit intentional. God speaks to me in many ways, but this was too odd. A crow mocking the words on a sign had me in stitches, so I posted the photo on my Facebook page. And thus began the sharing of sign disobedience photos.

This one had been posted by the Administrator of Threshold, known to me and my Thresher friends as Aristotle. You rebellious rule breaker, you!

Anyway, now we’re getting into some really intentional stuff here. I know the crows can be explained because, obviously, they can’t read. But Threshers read. We must, or else we meet our own demise. See “The Importance of Reading in a Text Based RPG” and “10 Profound Mistakes Made by RPG Players.”

But what if...what if people really aren't reading? Maybe signs are posted in the wrong places. Like, maybe a sign posted directly in front of people - like this one.

Nope. Apparently, if you look somewhere other than directly in front of you, this is excusable. Really, it is. What if someone stumbled into this dude and he spilled his Latte Grande all over the Asian’s device and damaged it? Oh, excuse me. How do I know she’s Asian? Trust me, I know...she’s got a camera doesn't she?

So this gives us the unintentional, the intentional, and the excusable. What next? The exception.

Obviously, this rule is not enforceable. My driver’s license prohibits me from driving without my glasses. How else would I find my car in the parking lot if I’m not wearing my glasses? Hmmm.

I did point this out to the owner of the establishment, but the sign remains. And so does my willful disobedience.

Then there’s the incidental rule breaking. The one that happens just before you read the sign declaring said rule. This happened to me while visiting my husband in Gainesville at the Red Roof Inn after his surgery.

I salute rule #6 just before finishing my Miller Lite. Don’t you think these rules should be posted on the outside of the gate rather than on the inside? Hell, I’d already broken the rule as soon as I stepped into the pool area and before closing the gate behind me.

From www.dictionary.com in-ci-den-tal: adjective 1. happening or likely to happen in an unplanned or subordinate conjunction with something else.

Get it?

Then we have the Master Kard, the connoisseur of sign disobedience.

Con-nois-seur: noun 1. a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.

Thank you to all my Thresher friends for sharing their photos!

If you have a photo depicting sign disobedience, please post a link in the comments.

If you care to, please vote for your favorite rebel.