First it was a steakhouse on Dickson Street (you know, the heart of Fayetteville’s “Entertainment District”) and now it is a pizza place on the square – stores communicating with the public through signs in their windows.

On Dickson (the heart of Fayetteville’s Entertainment District – see, it does look silly after a while, doesn’t it?) the sign was in reference to the city’s parking policy, which a number of business owners feel has hurt them financially.

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The second sign, placed in the window of Tiny Tim’s Pizza, reminds folks that they merely rent the building, and that they are not responsible for anything going on outside the building. Like, say, the removal of the popular Coca-Cola sign which once adorned the side of the structure?

I’m sort of enchanted by this method of communication. It predates blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and even, if you think about it, newspapers. It’s direct, old-fashioned communication. . In at least one of the instances above, it is almost unabashedly political.

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It’s kind of hard to ignore a sign in right front of your face.

It almost makes me long for a Town Crier or two, shouting out the news of the day. Almost? No, that would be cool, wouldn’t it?

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There are other signs in our midst in Fayetteville as well, which also make strong political and social statements.

For Sale or For Lease signs, especially if the property in question has been empty for an appreciable amount of time. And these are political signs that nobody likes to read.

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The Adventure of the Missing Sign: Much ado about nothing – oh, really?

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There are some who dismiss all of this uproar about the Coca-Cola sign as some sort of summertime blather, something that will pass.

No news here, folks. It’s just a silly old sign. Who are these people, anyway, whining about a sign? We’ve got Wi-Fi on the square, for crying out loud!

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But where some might see simple anal retentiveness (bad enough in city government) where the sign ordinance is concerned, others- especially anyone thinking of running for office – could easily twist this into something else, like arrogance, and add it to their list of talking points for the 2012 election campaign.

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Quote of the Day

Everything in war is barbaric. But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men to commit acts collectively which individually they would revolt with their whole being. – Ellen Key

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rsdrake@cox.net

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