Driving there really brought home to me how cultural the comprehension of road signs really is. I could never figure out if the blue lines were bad or good. What exactly does a blinking yellow light after a red light want me to do? Was the inside lane fast or slow when you reversed the side of the road on which you drove? What does that arrow there mean?
In France I remember seeing the whole three lane highway set up for the first time and tightened my seatbelt. In case you are unfamiliar, the middle lane is used by EITHER direction to pass. Usually at over 120 KPH.
In Germany, I was screamed at for failing to pull onto the shoulder promptly when someone wanted to pass me. They also had these little signs that were black exclamation points with a red circle around them. I felt sure I was supposed to be wary of something... But what?!
It all reminded me of my thesis where I explored the postmodern concept of meaning as existing only in shared comprehension. I was right, I realized, absolutely right- that language, much like these signs, ever possibly reached Truth only insofar as the people discussing the Truth comprehended each other. (Whether or not something is True existing again outside said discussion being a whole other discussion for another day... If a tree falls in the woods....)
But getting away from the deeper issues there-- and back to the middle deep issues-- There are people who design and create these signs. They convey an entire paragraph into a pictorial representation- a pictorial representation that should be understood by each and every person in the society without the need for deeper explanation. Red having certain connotations-- like danger... Arrows at certain places on the roadway suggesting certain things. But we forget in our isolated societies that signs are not universal; not connected to a deeper comprehension existing before the communally agreed representations- and that as second nature at they are to us they boggle the mind of poor unsuspecting souls visiting from other places. Like Alabama.
I give to you:
7 comments:
You write quite well, St Ives. But I must say that I hope you will never be my driver in the UK.
Fiddle worm
There are roundabouts in Canada (even Ottawa, Mo). Except we call them turning circles... Personally I find them so fun that I drive around them in circles, just for the fun.
BTW, this road sign was in Golden Colorado...in Alabama this Wwould blow the town's mind completely. : ) And yes, Fiddle Worm.
Okay, I have no clue what that road sign means so I sought knowledge. The first website I found was cotrip.org, which has not enlightened me in that quest but has shown me where all the traffic cameras in Colorado are. Isn't it amazing what you can find on the net? I can sit at my desk down South in 'Bama and watch the Colorado intersections. It does boggle the mind.
But I still don't know what that sign means.....off, back to the original quest I go. Because there is a difference between ignorance and apathy.
Southern Magnolia
Actually, SM, I can tell you what it means because we drove in it at the Golden Co Courthouse...you remember, the one that does not look like the Tajmahall no matter what they say. At any rate, it means that you will arrive at an intersection to a round-about. You will have to yield to oncomming traffic after which you will proceed in the round about- having various choices for shooting off in several possible directions. : ) Or as Mommy Dearest said the first time we approached it, "Pilot to navigator- tell me when to get off this thing."
That makes sense. I didn't realize that they made signs for that; someone in CO was thoughtful! lol When I lived in a small town in TN, having fun with the new residents consisted of sending them around a circle like that (the courthouse was in the center of the circle) and seeing how many times they would go around and around and around before they figured out which offshoot they needed, lol.
:)
Kind of reminds me of the Griswolds' European Vacation and, "Look kids, Big Ben--again."
To steal a good line: What's the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care. ;)
Southern Magnolia
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