Bad Signs

 

Today is election day. For some people, that means next to nothing. To me, that means I don’t have to move my car for street cleaning. It also means it’s a good time to take the country’s temperature. Though it isn’t always clear how and where to insert a thermometer into the body politic. Still, we persevere. 

As you may know, there are a few matters of grave concern. Issues that are frankly keeping people up at night. Researching the particulars by reading memes or following experts on social media. But none of that is what I’m focused on today. My concern for the country is a bit more abstract. Because I am surveying things from great heights. A vantage point that allows me to truly see things how they are. 

However, my cause does touch every single municipality, no matter how small. It cuts across party lines and demographics. And it’s been a problem for a very, very long time. You can’t go anywhere in all fifty states and not see a serious sign of civic decay. 

I’m talking of course about political yard signs. Why do they have to be so ugly? There’s no visual hierarchy. The kerning, the leading, the horror. The slogans are tired, the names are too large, and the font is offensive. In a world where technological innovations have many worried for their livelihoods, why does it seem that the political sign makers continue without a care in the world? They don’t seem worried. If ever there was a job that could be done better by a robot surely it is this one. Nothing they do is even remotely artisanal. And for many of my peers, that alone is an indictment of someone’s craft. 

These hideous signs pop up every summer, multiplying in otherwise pristine yards, growing like mushrooms after a downpour. A single home sometimes has several signs for the same person. Who votes because of these? I can’t tell if you’re running for sanitation board of a tiny Alaskan village or the next Mayor of Cincinnati. 

The phrase, “do better” is thrown around a lot these days. But to me, the problem of signage is deeper than any other single issue. If we let the status quo remain, it’s not a good sign for the future.