I passed one of those electric signs by the highway today. The strange thing is, I take that route twice a day and I don’t remember seeing an electric sign there before. It said
“CLICK IT OR TICKET”
With God as my witness, I couldn’t figure out what this sign was trying to say.
I actually had to Google it when I got home and found out that it’s the part of a national campaign designed to promote seat belt usage. Which I’m sure you realized immediately, but for some reason didn’t occur to me at all. I don’t know where my head is at lately. But I was disappointed to solve the mystery, and kind of wish I hadn’t bothered. I think I liked the sign better as a strange, glowing non-sequitur--a little bit of surreal poetry beaming at me from the highway. Like when someone asks you to pass the creamed potatoes, but you’re only half listening and so you only hear “Please know that I often dream of tornadoes.”
I think I was one of the first ones to get a ticket for that when they first came out with it sometime in the early 90’s. It cost me $20 bucks. Now it is like $100! I click it fo sho now!
I’m floored that you’ve not seen these signs before. They’ve been around for ages. So long that I don’t even register them much anymore. But for some reason, the Buckle up, America! ones always catch my eye. I don’t know if this means anything, but I felt like sharing because, well, I’m sweet like that.
Those signs have been irritating me for at least 7 years.
I’d be interested in what your unique mind would have thought “Buckle Up, America!” or “Buckle Up - It’s the Law” meant if you were clueless there, too.
See, now, those I’ve heard of.
“Have you belted your kid today?”
I’m a little concerned because I don’t associate clicking sounds with giving myself a “morale booster”. Either I’m doing something wrong or there’s an interesting medical story yet to be revealed.
Not that this has anything to do with the actual topic of the post itself, but something in today’s post caught my eye and I just had to comment on it.
The phrase “As God as my witness”.
For those who believe in God, they are viewed as an all-knowing omnipotent being who sees everything. Doesn’t that mean that God is witness to everything and everyone, and thus can be assumed to always be your witness?
For those that don’t believe in God, it’s almost implying that you didn’t in fact have a witness and thus we just have to believe you on your word - which is what we all end up doing anyways.
Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion on seat belt advertising.
we saw the same sign on hwy. 17 last week and my son Mouse read it aloud, following with “well, isn’t that clever” which is, of course, what the sloganmaker thought when he scribbled it on the back of his cocktail napkin.
That is very funny...we have those on the highway too...my favorite road signs though, which I wish we had in Boston is in Maryland, they have signs with the phone number to call to report aggressive driving. Shows where our society has landed on the road nowadays.
Your phrase, “pleasure yourself in the car” must explain why the contextual google ads displayed when I opened the blog were for “How to love your spouse” and “Keeping your spouse close”
Speaking of ads, have you seen the British anti-smoking ads showing people with large fish hooks through their mouths and the text, “Get unhooked?” Gross
Ha. I would have been confused, too.
For some reason it reminds me of that stupid rotisserie infomercial - “Set it and forget it!”
Ideas often come to me in dreams. I’ve never thought about turning them into film, though.
OK, maybe a few.
-- david
In New Jersey, amongs the things that make us proud is that we have the most reckless governor so our slogan for seat belt safety is: Align It Or Corzine It.