It seems like warning signs, of all varieties, are affixed to everything these days, from prescription bottles to step ladders.
Similar labels may even be found inside firefighters' turnout gear, where they advise users that the coats and pants should not be worn near open fire or flame--an interesting conundrum, as that is precisely where they end up going.
We even find those small cautions on hammers nowadays. and if you don't think that a wayward hammer can be a problem, just ask Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who is now sporting a neck brace and a nasty bruise or two and maybe a pretty serious cut, with the associated risks of infection, all due to a faulty hammer, which came apart in a recent demonstration.
You see had Mr. Kennedy read the fine print on the warning label concerning the proper use of the hammer, he would have outfitted himself with the goggles, helmet, face mask and the other prescribed protective gear which would have precluded the injuries he sustained in this dreaded, but predictable, operation of Murphy's Law.
Speaking of the Kennedys and the appliqué of warning labels, it has long been a part of nautical lore that Coast Guard cutters acquired their distinctive and gaudy stripes because Joe Sr. flummoxed FDR into introducing these stripes both for nautical identification purposes as well as a heads up to his sharp eyed crews involved in bootlegging.
Signs warning people of renegades have been common in the past. During wars in Russia, Napoleon and the Wehrmacht posted signs warning the troops that so and so many kilometers of the road ahead were unsafe due to the predations of partisans and to travel in armed convoys.
But of all the signage loosed upon america today, the most interesting is found in the Coronado National Forest in arizona. Interspersed among the fire danger and fire ant warnings are some troubling postings admonishing visitors to the manifold dangers caused by the activities of smugglers and illegal immigrants.
according to Tucson Channel 4 News, Bill Wilcox, the fire manager for the Sierra Vista Ranger District, said the signs were installed on the recommendations of his forest managers to keep the visitors alert.
The warning reads, "Travel Caution. Smuggling and Illegal Immigrants may be encountered in this area." Just great, the crooks are listed like local fauna.
Wilcox pointed out that while local folks are prepared for the particular problems the smugglers and the illegal aliens can kick up, the uninitiated, like sightseers and strangers, just aren't aware or ready.
So, I guess, I'm a little concerned that the banditry at large in our National Forests has grown to such an extent that signs need to be posted warning the out of towners--you know, your tenderfoots, greenhorns, Johnny-come-latelys, tinhorns, neophytes, amateurs, latecomers, stragglers, your US senators--that hoodlums are on the rampage and that, like the signs warning folks about grizzlies or black bears, to please steer clear of them.
Interestingly, though, the signs and Mr. Wilcox fail to tell you what the hell you're supposed to do when you blunder into a passle of smugglers or wander into a pack of coyotes with a load of pups in tow. are they armed? Will they shake you down? Will they steal your food and drink? Will they drag you along?
But this isn't 1943 Russia, after all, and such signs have been so far rather uncommon in america. But are these precursors of more to come?
Will neophyte freshmen expect to see signs posted around Duke University warning them about raping in the area? Will Mississippi tyros find posted cautions about gun deaths awash in New Orleans? Will signs at the boundaries of Los angeles familiarize the fresh buckwheaters with the problems of bank robberies? Will novice visitants to Texas discern cautionary billboards alerting them to the hazards of cattle rustling and jackleg fleecing?
Mr. Wilcox has alerted us to the fact that the locals are fully aware of how dangerous the forest is and that he has erected the signs to pretty much only alert the folks from out of town. Whoa, is he liability skirting with this activity?
It is absolutely incredible that we need signage to wake up honest folk to the fact that a National Forest is unsafe for visitors because of unlawful activity --which is not being curtailed in any way shape or form by the authorities. and rather than crack down on another clear and present danger to american citizens, we paper the whole shabby affair over with warning signs, just to be on the safe side, the same way we do with step ladders, hammers and firefighter's clothing.
But, with illegal aliens, the current crop of beautiful people, in the mix, a crack down on their behavior just isn't in the cards. Nope, visitors must watch their step while the peccant malefactors operate with impunity.
It's a sign of the times.
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