Who is laughing at Danzig? Those who stop at the intersection of N Greeley Ave and N Willamette Ave might see themselves as the culprit and I hope they consider the serious nature of their mirth and realize that someone in this world thinks their laughing needs to end. I’ve seen many a defacement of stop signs that told me to stop this or that, but this one impressed me by looking like a sticker that had been made to be applied to multiple stop signs to stop an epidemic of hilarity that has been foisted upon Danzig.  I can’t imagine someone applying a Laughing at Danzig sticker to the bumper of their car.  That would not go over well in a goth neighborhood.

I ran into another example of this mayhem.

The sentiment is nice, and it’s written in a doom metal font that overshadows it’s message.  It’s hard to read.  Stop is bold and clear, the word apathy is running off the edge of the sign.  I didn’t get into the blogging business to critique street sign penmanship, but it’s common sense. Make your message legible.  I don’t want to have to stop my car or bike, get out and squint my eyes to get the general idea.

I rode through a North Portland neighborhood trying to remember where I had seen a “stop austerity” message.  I couldn’t find it.  I remember it well but it wasn’t where I knew I had seen it.  It had me wondering how often stop signs get replaced.  Certainly times would have to be a bit more austere before a stop austerity sign would get replaced. Stop signs aren’t cheap.

I was at the last stop sign before MLK when I noticed a faint scrawl, possibly written in dust, underneath the stop message. It’s almost not worth showing because even with the most highly sophisticated, forensic-like, software manipulations, I could not get a good image of the “stop working” sign.  It’s probably a sentiment lost on most people anyway.

Stop working: I tried.

Finally, doubling back to head home, I spied the sign below. Scribbles! I have no idea what’s trying to be stopped here. Sure stop sign manipulations are minimal vandalism and while I can’t condone it, I can be entertained by it. For the most part the message is lost on the people who just want to obey the law and stop at the stop sign. They probably aren’t going to stop anything but their car. For me, I’m done laughing at Danzig.

 I’d stop it, if I could pronounce it.

Are these folks laughing at Danzig? You decide:

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