Mean Signs

Back when I was first learning to read I always thought that ‘Go Children Slow’ street sign sent an odd message. Even now in my life I pass this sign every day that says ‘Slow Deaf Child.’ It’s one thing to say a kid is deaf or whatever but do we have to throw in the fact that he's slow too? Talk about mean!

Here below you see a sign from the lobby of the fancy new Liberty Hotel, so named in ironic commentary on the fact that the place functioned for some 150 years as a jail. (One of its eateries is dubbed Clink, another Alibi. It’s all very droll - unless you remember that Sacco and Vanzetti were among those held here at a time when their case almost tore this country apart.)

It was hard to get a good picture of it what with the glass frame and the gold lettering but it says “Unattended Children Will Be Given a Double Espresso with Three Sugars … and a Dog.” Ha ha. A funny joke, with only a slightly prickly we-hate-kids subtext..... So I'm just wondering: when did this happen? Remember when children were thought of as these clear pure vessels, who were capable of teaching US so much? The Boomers' whole youth revolution was predicated on that belief come to think of it. So what’s going on here? Are kids routinely given the curled lip these days or are we just get meaner across the board?at least this one is funny: