Sign Of The Times

I drove past Jiffy Lube today. An employee was standing outside, shaking a sign offering a $12 discount. The man looked pretty disheartened and less than thrilled to be on sign duty. He was also holding the sign upside down. Awesome! I have a thing about making people stand outside their jobs and hold signs. It’s tacky and I feel sorry for them. I don’t mind so much when people are specifically hired to hold signs for a liquidation sale. They obviously need the work. But to make sign holding part of one’s job seems wrong to me. During tax season, one local accounting firm has people dress like the Statue of Liberty and wave at cars. One particularly memorable Lady of Liberty was a teenage boy who wore his backwards baseball hat underneath the spiky green crown. He was listening to his iPod and danced instead of just holding his sign. He was a great dancer, and was totally into his job. I was sorry my traffic light turned green so soon. I could have watched longer. The costume didn’t make me want to take my tax business to his company, but I did want a copy of his playlist. Another time, the Lady Liberty position was inhabited by a teenage girl with many body piercings and tattoos. What was that phrase inscribed on the Statue of Liberty? “Give me your tired, your weary, your pierced and inked up...” So, I’m not sure how effective this sign-holding tactic is. It doesn’t work on me. I make a mental note not to patronize businesses who do this. Ok, I admit I use Jiffy Lube, but not because their sign lured me in. I guess that makes me a hypocrite, and I will now go and take a shower because I feel dirty.