This has nothing to do with the comic. But it’s a funny little story related to my hand injury that just popped into my head that I thought you would enjoy.
This took place last Thursday, the day after my visit to the ER. I wasn’t doing much of anything that day except sitting around with an ice pack on my hand, admonishing myself, going “Owie, owie, owie, you stupid muther…”
At some point in the afternoon, there was a knock on my door. I went upstairs to see who it was and it was a solicitor.
A clean-shaven middle-aged man with a handful of pictures informed me that he was going door-to-door asking home owners if they would appreciate his business painting their house numbers on the curb in front of their homes.
“Perhaps you’re familiar with our work,” he asked, as he flashed a series of photographs in front of me. Most of the photographs were of plain house numbers. But some of them were also adorned with the logos of popular sports teams. A Chicago Cubs logo here, a Kansas City Chiefs logo there.
“No, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with your work,” I said.
“You know, the real reason you want to get your numbers painted on the curb,” the man said as he continued his pitch, “is because they’re much more visible to emergency vehicles. These emergency vehicles can’t see the house numbers when they’re so far away from the street.”
“That’s funny,” I said, holding up my bandaged left hand, “because we actually had a little situation here yesterday that required a visit from an emergency vehicle and they seemed to find the house just fine!”
“Uh? Oh! Oh my,” the man stuttered.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” I said. “I understand what you’re doing. But I don’t think we’ll be in need of your services.”
We wished each other well and the man went on his way.
Local councils in Australia painted numbers on the curb as a service to the community. Yay us.
Seems to me you could take care of that with some stencils and spray paint, if you were so inclined.
Would the city consider that vandalism of public property?
I have a funny story in the same vein. There was a company (I think from VA) that came to my neighborhood and put little neon green notes on stakes in our yards (near the curb) advertising that they were going to come through and do the same thing on a certain date. Basically if you wanted to do it, you had to fill it out and place it back in the yard. I think the fee was between $10 and $15 and you’d be billed later. My wife and I kind of chuckled about it, and threw it away (like Eric H said above, I could do it myself with little effort).
Here’s the funny/sad part, there are a lot of older people in our neighborhood, and a number of them elected to have the number painted on the curb. However, something like 2 weeks later, the county came in and tore out all the old curbs and sidewalks and updated all of them (along with the storm drains) in our neighborhood. They hadn’t actively notified people in the neighborhood about the work until after the painters came through, so essentially the people that had it done, threw their money away.
The curb-painters came to my house while my parents were in town. My dad gave me the $10 to get it done. Cause… I didn’t want to be the only house without new numbers painted on the street. That’s almost as bad as the house who doesn’t mow their lawn. When one person slips… the whole neighborhood hears about it. 😉
Is it bad that I’m the neighbor that doesn’t always mow his lawn?
Seriously, the guy who lives next door to me is Mr. Greenjeans. He mows his lawn *a minimum* 3 times a week.
I can’t keep up with it, so I end up overcompensating in the opposite direction.
I see the logic in his pitch, but I think it also falls flat if your emergency personnel are moderately competent.
No worries Tom… I try to get away with mowing only 3-4 times a year. Of course, here in Alaska our summers are shorter, so it’s a little easier to get away with that. I also never water it to stunt its growth, because we usually get enough rain to just keep it green enough, but this year has been a little dry. I’m sure you’re feeling better about your lawn by now, because I bet this is sounding pretty bad. Well, my yard doesn’t look too much different than most others in the neighborhood, and I guess that’s just because this is Alaska, and the only people with fairway in front of their house are the ones that mow 3 times a week and you see them in their yard every day… which, my neighbor happens to be one of those people too.
When I’m at home, I like being inside, so I take care of the house. When I want to be outside, I don’t want to be in my yard… this is Alaska! haha, so if you’re happy with managing your grass to the bear minimum, than that’s who you are, so I wouldn’t worry. I think then you just have more time to spend on what’s more important to you…. I guess grass must just be really important to those other people 😉