When driving back from Duxbury after this awesome day at the beach, I saw a sign for DRUG FREE ZONE. I was a little confused, because I thought the entire United States was a drug free zone. Granted, I know prescription drugs are allowed (real ones, not San Fran brownies, Brooke), but I am pretty sure that sign wasn't talking about a Zoloft and Ambien free zone. Ollie and her sister were watching that showtime series Weed on demand, and the episode was on was when this townsperson (who is played by the women who is in the movie Big, but she didn't look like she was that old now, so maybe I am wrong) put up a sign to declare a certain area of the city drug free and I had to question that, too. If anything, it is a little braggy. It's like the town is saying "Lookee here, we can stop the drug dealers and addicts with our shmancy signs. See if any druggies try to do drugs in this stretch of 20 yards. We've shown them."
I think having signs that say DRUG FREE ZONE actually make it more likely that people will start doing drugs once they are outside the zone. Also, the sign wasn't very specific. It didn't say how large the zone was. I mean, is it like a school zone? Is there a certain area that is being designated drug free, or is it just a reminder in general? (I see it playing out like this:"No, no, don't do drugs there. That's a drug free zone! You'll get in trouble. Come over here, where the yellow curb ends. Now we can do drugs.")
Also, I was under the impression that drugs were illegal (isn't that what I learned in D.A.R.E.?). If we are posting signs that say DRUG FREE ZONE do we also need to add in signs for THEFT FREE ZONE or MURDER FREE ZONE, just in case people forget what is illegal?
I mean, I could be totally off base here. I realize, signs aren't the end-all, be-all of truth and what's right. Obviously, if you see a sign for a duck crossing that isn't the only place you will see a duck cross a road. Ducks can't read signs. They will cross the road wherever they feel like it so you shouldn't assume that you should only be cautious of ducks crossing the road where the sign is. Granted, if a duck crossed the road not at the sign, I am not sure if you can really get in trouble if you hit one, because how on earth did you know there could be a duck there? It goes both ways, I guess.
Sort of speaking of, when I was younger crosswalks always confused me. They would have the WALK signal and the DONT WALK signal, but the WALK would never be on for long enough to get across the street. Thus, when DONT WALK flickered on my two instincts would be to (a) Run or (b) Stop. Fortunately I was bright enough to run and not stop in the middle of the road, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone else made that mistake. What I mean is, signs are confusing sometimes, even if to most people they seem straightforward.
I also used to think that the saying "Don't rain on my parade" was "Don't reign on my parade." In my head, these mean the same thing to this day. I imagine someone else dressed up as the Queen pretending to be in charge of my parade. It's my parade, goddammit. Don't ruin it for me by taking the best float that has the castle with the tower and the handsome prince in shining armor and leave me to ride on the float that isn't even a float but the back of someone's pick up truck. Gosh, don't reign on my parade you backstabbing stupidiot. It's my parade, not yours. I get the best float.
I guess I was just a confused kid in general, so maybe that explains why I don't get why these signs for drug free zones are popping up like daisies. Maybe to everyone else it is obvious. Thoughts?
3 comments:
Remember what Penny said, "Hamsters are good. Drugs are bad. I wouldn't do drugs." But really, where are the MURDER FREE ZONES? How about the "EMBEZZLEMENT FREE ZONES?" Those must be in more blue collar areas, as white collar crime would not be allowed there. Or...wait...Oh, I get it now. Nevermind anything I said, except Penny.
Ahh, vague signage, a pet peeve of mine. My favourite here in London is the sign that says "Slow Children Caution" - it makes me wonder what the dim-witted children are up to in that area that I need to be worried about or avoiding.
I think there's another point to ponder with respect to the 'Drug Free Zone', though - the power (or not) of positive thinking. It's like these people go about their lives thinking "If I say it is so, it will be so - see there's a sign to prove it". I've been noticing this a lot these days with the Clinton campaign - despite the fact that the majority of Americans of voting age (myself included) say that they will never vote for HRC, she, her team, and a lot of the liberal media seem to be already planning her inaugural ball. Hello, she hasn't even made it to the primaries yet!
A small part of me wishes I could be so positive, that I could just make things come true simply by expressing what I want. The rest of me just wonders how these delusional people survive a life that must be one disappointment after another, one in which they potentially invest no time or energy into making something happen because they've already decreed that it will.
And having written this, I wonder when I became this person who expects absolutely nothing from the world and works so hard to make my mark in it. I should have just put up a sign.
Ahh, vague signage, a pet peeve of mine. My favourite here in London is the sign that says "Slow Children Caution" - it makes me wonder what the dim-witted children are up to in that area that I need to be worried about or avoiding.
I think there's another point to ponder with respect to the 'Drug Free Zone', though - the power (or not) of positive thinking. It's like these people go about their lives thinking "If I say it is so, it will be so - see there's a sign to prove it". I've been noticing this a lot these days with the Clinton campaign - despite the fact that the majority of Americans of voting age (myself included) say that they will never vote for HRC, she, her team, and a lot of the liberal media seem to be already planning her inaugural ball. Hello, she hasn't even made it to the primaries yet!
A small part of me wishes I could be so positive, that I could just make things come true simply by expressing what I want. The rest of me just wonders how these delusional people survive a life that must be one disappointment after another, one in which they potentially invest no time or energy into making something happen because they've already decreed that it will.
And having written this, I wonder when I became this person who expects absolutely nothing from the world and works so hard to make my mark in it. I should have just put up a sign.
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