Listen to Jim: http://www.jimreedbooks.com/mp3/ignsofthetimes.mp3 or read on…
What’s missing from this picture?
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As children of the kudzu, we used to make up our own games, spending hours entertaining ourselves, laughing, jostling, snarling, giggling…just plain having fun at no-one’s expense.
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On a good day, when I connect with someone else who is ready to take laughter seriously, I still make my own fun.
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For instance, I look at signs along the way to someplace else.
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Better still, I look for what’s missing in signs along the way, trying to guess what the real message is.
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Here’s one sign:
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FAMILY LAR
This one took a minute…what is a family lar?
Ummm…oh, I see–it’s a FAMILY DOLLAR STORE sign that’s missing letters.
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What else?
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AMPU HOUSE
Hmmm…I’m afraid to guess because it seems a bit medical-rehabby. But, oh, I get it. It’s CAMPUS HOUSE, some kind of religious facility with alphabetus interruptus syndrome.
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Here’s another:
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ANNA’S LINLNS
After a while, I figured it to be ANNA’S LINENS with besmirched letter.
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There used to be a store chain called DOLLAR TREE, which I always read wrong. That’s because the sign was set up this way: 1 DOLLAR TREE. In the grand tradition of Free Enterprise, it always popped into my head as I-DOLLA-TREE (IDOLATRY), or the worship of merchandise that stores like that carry.
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And here’s one that still throws me, usually printed on the side of juice containers:
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CONCENTRATE
Which causes me to sit and stare until I find the rest of the statement, “made from concentrate.”
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So it goes.
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You can make up your own games. Send me the IGNS OF THE TIMES that you spot along the way
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(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed