#2 "Happy Hiking..." = Good Luck, Buddy, Hope You're A Better Runner Than Your Friends
It should not come as a surprise—this is the internet—that there is a dedicated Facebook group focused on all manner of signs and signification. Well, all right, not all manner per se, but rather all funny manner.
Give Me A Sign, which currently boasts a fellowship of over 684,000 members, is a hub for various road signs, billboards, notes, plaques, storefront ads, license plates, and absolutely everything in between found in the wild.
Facebook’s stats claim that the group is quite active, clocking in at nearly 10,000 posts a month—at least that’s what happened in September alone.
As mentioned previously, the group features a variety of signage that essentially includes anything with text and other kinds of symbolism on any surface found in a public setting.
Take this sentient vending machine. We can clearly see that it is a warning of sorts that this food dispensing store unit has a temper and you should pray to the gods to not deserve its wrath. Or just call tech support.
Or this sign, which is looking for a jazz drummer. You can practically hear all the tss tss tss’s. Or maybe it’s this very serious sign about upcoming repairs that was made hilarious because spelling is hard. You get the point.
The idea behind the page is to bring entertainment and joy through real world findings (of the sign variety) and sharing them with pals and strangers alike without it becoming a platform for political, religious or any other mind-encumbering debate. We just wanna scroll, man.
OK, mega geek time. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use and interpretation. It might sound pretty clear-cut judging by its definition, but that’s where the journey begins.
While its origins are humble, starting off as an academic endeavor, it evolved into an investigation of people’s behavior (anthropology and psychology), of culture and society (sociology and philosophy), moving into the realm of art (films, literature and the like), and even going so far as to become a consumer behavior and brand communication tool.
In other words, you might see a sign here and laugh. Or you might dig deeper and understand that there is an entire speculative context behind it: someone is a disgruntled employee, someone is a comma inquisitor, someone’s having marital troubles, or someone is just out there caring about the world.
And so you can now develop stories around these signs in your head, one up the joke and partake in the living organism that is a simple sign plastered on a store’s window, beckoning you to enter and to understand the epic level of humor the employees must have without even talking to them. But you’d like to, right? Makes you appreciate it even more.
#19 "And Here All Along I Thought It Was The Hamburger That Was Doing The Helping"
So, if you want to appreciate signs even more, keep on scrolling. Or visit the Facebook group yourself. Or, better yet, comment, share, hit that upvote button—spread the love and share some of your own stories of signs that make you feel good in the comment section below!