I guess we’ve all seen it – people go around and put up signs and notices about forthcoming events, and they tie them to lamp posts, and staple them to fences, etc, or they use a little stake to put them into verges where passing cars can read them. I don’t mind that, actually. We don’t buy a local newspaper or listen to the local radio station, so it’s handy to know what’s happening and when, around our village. Sometimes, it’ll be something interesting, and I’ll pop along and even spend a bit of cash, which is what it’s all about really, isn’t it?
So, no worries about that damn great piece of painted hardboard that someone tied to the lamp post across the street from our house. It’s kinda pretty, actually, and big enough to be easily read by anyone who had the slightest interest in doing so. It’s even a good cause, since pre-school groups seem to need to raise pretty much all of their own funding, so hooray for the pre-school fete! I hope they do well.
Except…
Notice the date on that? I believe it says ’6th July’? I took that picture this morning, and today is the twenty-first. That is a whole two weeks later. So, having put up the notice, and got what they wanted – ie, lots of people trolling along to spend their cash – the organisers of this event have just abandoned the sign, and basically said ‘fuck it’ to the community – and not in a Good Way.
Is it not incumbent upon those who care for our kids to set a good example to them? Mmm. I thought so, too. But in this case, the group seems to be saying ‘Do what you have to in order to get what you want, and then don’t worry about cleaning up your mess, because Someone Else will do it’.
Of course, they’re not the only ones who fail to collect what is now, in effect, litter. This other picture is of a poster for a plant sale at the village hall, and it’s now nestling in a ditch. But I have to say, the pre-schooler’s one sets a very bad example.
And that pisses me off. It really does.
Oh thats too funny. The date is CRAZY wrong. Or someone just decided to put it there rather than throw it away?
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..Monday Monday
No, they put it up to advertise the event, Meleah, then afterwards, no-one bothered to come and dispose of it. Sadly it happens all the time, but that has to be the biggest I’ve seen just left there to rot.
Sadly, people seem only to care about doing whatever it takes to get what they want. It’s mostly a selfish world we live in.
If it was me, I think I might complain and make them remove it.
Babs – beetles last blog post..Another trip down memory lane
Oh, I so hear you on this. I get frustrated with those kinds of things, too. Fortunately, in my subdivision, we have yard sales organized by the community. They take care of putting up and taking down signs for it. That keeps my immediate neighborhood clean, but there are plenty of signs external to our neighborhood that are cluttered with abandoned signs.
Maybe you could take a step toward the clean-up by contacting the org. and telling them they forgot one of their signs and that it’s becoming unsightly. Who knows? Maybe they really did forget.
By the way, about my blog review? It may be coming in tomorrow ((shudder)). I have found a few great blogs through their site (even ones that didn’t get top honors), so I’m hoping some great readers will find me. Maybe.
Peace – D
RiverPoets last blog post..Cat Woman
AHHHH! You have seriously hit on one of my pet peeves. People do it all the time around here, post a sign advertising their garage sales, and weeks later, those worn out, wet, torn signs are still hanging drunkenly from the post they were tied to. Hot pink, orange, lime green, obvious posters flying on every corner and round-a-bout in the neighborhood. I hate garbage on the streets, not only is it tacky, but what kind of example does it set when you’re trying to teach to never throw trash on the ground or out a car window like we have actually watched people do repeatedly! It’s one of the few times I experience road rage, cause I want to drive right up their butt and make them turn around and go pick it up.
JTs last blog post..Where, oh where, has the romance gone?
I’m with JT. I hate when people advertise garage sales and don’t take down their signs. Makes me want to go to their house, knock on the door and ask where the sale is. To me, not taking down the signs is totally inconsiderate.
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 1 – Stay Motivated
I see lots of signs that say “This Saturday”… but I never go along, because I don’t know which Saturday they mean. Just like the signs you featured, these ones stay up for ages too.
Coastal Aussies last blog post..A quick frog update
Babs – So true. And I might just pop my head round the door next time I’m passing.
RiverPoet – There is no way they can’t know it’s still there. It’s on the only road out of the village, going north. I don’t believe for a moment that not one single member of the group goes that way for shopping. No, this is a case of an SEP, as Douglas Adams puts it. An SEP being Someone Else’s Problem, and according to Douglas, invisible to a large percentage of the population.
Oh, and in one neighbouring village, someone collected up all the obsolete signs and piled them on the village green with a notice that said ‘Please collect your rubbish and dispose of it properly’ and you know what? Most of them did!
JT – Ah, the rubbish tossed from car windows! Another pet peeve. I could take a picture yards from here (north end of the village) which will show a trail of McDonald’s garbage nestling in the hedgerow, where people have picked up a drive-through from McD’s at the south end of the village, eaten it on the way through, and simply thrown the empty packaging out of the window. And they wondered why half the village objected to the plan to build one!
Barbara – Exactly. It’s selfish and inconsiderate. It’s probably an offence along with other forms of littering but our police don’t have the time or the will to enforce it. *Sigh*
Aussie – Oh yeah – I’ve seen that too! It’s kinda like shooting themselves in the foot, isn’t it? LOL!
We’ve still got washed out signs from the May Fete around here. Of course they all carry obscene graffiti now too.
Ah, well, at least we don’t get that around here, Jeni!
Mostly what I see in that vein is “yard sale” signs. They’re ugly, but I figure, they need some coin, so I try to ignore it. I don’t even know if they typically retrieve them ‘after sale’ or not.
A. Deckers last blog post..How am I experiencing this moment of being alive?
It’s like the bed sheets on roundabouts that say HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY SARAH. They are still there two months later, dirty and the ink has all run from the rain – Surely Sarah can’t still be celebrating her birthday? And did she really want the whole of the town knowing how old she was?
A Decker – I don’t mind them going up, I just wish they’d take them down! Paper stuck to lamp posts is one thing, but huge chunks of hardboard? It’s still there, too…
Taffy’s Mum – Hi! And welcome – I don’t think I’ve seen you here before! Is Taffy a greyhound? Just asking …
Yeah, I’ve often thought that about the huge ’40th Birthday’ type signs. I’d hate it, if it were me!
oh! well, is it still there? or have you gotten rid of it?
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..It’s Only Wednesday?
Hi there, thank English Mum for the link to your site!
Yes Taffy is a Greythound who has been with me for the last 3 years along with his new house-mate William who retired to the house of Taffy in February.
hey they are supposed to go back to where ever they put those signs and take them down. i guess you could take it down and hand deliver it to wherever the function was held. eager to get it up, don’t care about taking it down.
Meleah – Still there .. sadly it’s actually wired to the lamp post. Short of going out there with a very strong pair of wire cutters, I don’t think I could free it.
Taffy’s Mum – Ah, right! Thank you EM!! So you have two, as well? I love having two – how are they getting along? When are you going to start blogging? LOL!
Valerie – They are! As I say, I doubt I could remove it easily, but I think I might pop in if I’m passing when the group meets and just let them know it would be nice if they took it down. It’s a bit out of the way for me, though and I don’t know when they meet!