Signs

June 9, 2023

"I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes..."
Ace of Base

I should have known better. The signs were there (literally, on the door!). You would think I would have caught on when I observed that there were no urinals in a men’s public bathroom. We were in the Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, Ontario. Our son, Jeremy, who was about 2 years old at the time, announced that a visit to the bathroom was necessary. I had volunteered to take him. As all the cubicles were occupied, Jeremy and I waited patiently until, to our surprise, a WOMAN walked in! I quickly warned her that she had the men’s bathroom. When she replied that it was me who was in the wrong, I suddenly realized the error of my ways! As we quickly left, I took a good look at the sign on the door. This was about the time that the actual words “Women” or “Men” were being replaced with symbols. Supposedly to make it easier to understand! Those little stick people are a bit ambiguous. However, to this day, I still double check. Fortunately I only made that mistake once! And to this day, I am always slightly relieved when I see a urinal!

It was only about 37 years later that I had another issue with signs. We were visiting Maui in 2019. On the north shore, there is a formation that we wanted to visit where the ocean surge erupts from a hole in the rocks, known locally as the Blow Hole. As we hadn’t been there for many years we watched carefully for signs indicating that we were on the correct road. Suddenly on a curve ahead I spotted a yellow sign with the words Blow Horn! “It’s all good!”, I exclaimed. “Looks like they changed the name from the Blow Hole to the Blow Horn”. As we followed the road, we were treated to more of the same yellow “Blow Horn” signs so we were sure we were on the right path. Soon we reached our destination and enjoyed the view of the water spouting up through the rocks. On the way back, I was surprised to see the yellow “Blow Horn” on the curves, but this time pointing in the opposite direction. It was then that my addled brain finally kicked it. The yellow “Blow Horn” sign was literally instructing the driver to sound the car’s horn as a warning to oncoming traffic going around the tight curves. Good thing we didn’t have a collision. I can imagine trying to explain my interpretation to a police officer!