Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Deer Crossing
I can almost understand this. School crossing. Pedestrian crossing. Why wouldn't one's initial response be that "Deer Crossing" is much the same? And we all have a coupla dozen things tucked away in our knowledge base that we believe, but if we looked at suspiciously for a minute or two would toss out. My eldest, who is a smart man, recently posted on Facebook that it had just occurred to him what UCLA stood for. Sometimes we just don't look closely.
And yet...this seems a bridge too far. If you are seeing these signs all the time, giving them your attention, and getting worked up enough to start writing letters to the newspaper and calling radio stations, shouldn't it be a basic point...
Aw, screw it. She's just stupid. What do you think when you see the sign "Falling Rocks," or "High Winds?" The state did that on purpose? Too much precedent for her not to know.
It's a really old joke.
ReplyDeleteDo you think she was putting them on, then?
ReplyDeleteDidn't sound like it.
ReplyDeleteI totally think this is joke. Something about her voice and the very specific way she goes on and on make me think this has to be a joke.
ReplyDeleteShe's clearly making a political statement in favor of progressive liberalism.
ReplyDeleteA libertarian conservative would just tell the deer to find their own damn crossing, just like the squirrels, racoons and skunks have to. Why should that be the government's responsibility?
Of course, she unwittingly makes the libertarian case for them -- testifying the government can't do anything right.
Maybe it's a double bluff.
Yes, definitely putting them on. Just like the last guy that got a letter to the editor printed on the same subject... and just like all the other times I've heard/seen this joke.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard a variant with "falling rock" signs.
I think I'm convinced it was a purposeful send-up by the phrase "they could make the deer cross anywhere they want." This would be implied by misunderstanding the sign, of course; and a genuinely confused person might say something like it. But not quite that. That statement suggests that the caller knows better. I think Donna B is right.
ReplyDelete