Monday, February 4, 2013

Someone Else Dislikes "Posted" Signs...and Ultrarunning

I posted last winter about what I called English Language Nitwits and their misuse of the term "posted" to denote a No Trespassing area.  (You should really click over there to read my impeccable logic, but in a nutshell, the shorthand description of a property being posted with signs  (i.e., off-limits) has morphed into the sign itself.)

Well, the stupid continues, except this time some irate viewer (no, it wasn't me) decided to vote with a shotgun:

[photo by Gary]


Of course, I am aware that the shooter really wasn't annoyed with the grammar so much as they were annoyed with the prohibition of trespassing. 

See, for some people, when they have a gun in their hands, it makes it easier to take an annoyance to another level...which, if you think about it, has some implications for the present discussion about guns in society.

The link to Ultrarunning is that we sometimes encounter No Trespassing signs in the backcountry.  By and large I tend to be respectful of such signs and avoid the property, but on occasion I have deliberately trespassed. 

One example that comes to mind is one time I was just plain whupped on a backcountry run and decided I needed to bail by the shortest possible route.  Turns out that after I committed to that bail-out route, I encountered some No Trespassing signs near the end.  Given my physical condition at that point, rerouting was not a viable option so I pushed on through.  Luckily, I encountered no irate property owner.

 

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