03 July, 2008

Is this funny? Gentle Reader, it's up to you!


There's a sign I've seen here and there around town - it's striking, but never struck me as amusing. It's certainly possible that I've become so Israeli that the inherent humor now passes me by without a second thought, but I've left it to you to decide.

"Why are you posting something that you don't find funny?" I hear you cry. Well, the fact is, my brother-in-law mentioned something to me a few months back about a goofy sign that he'd seen in Jerusalem. When he got into detail describing it, I realized that it was the same sign I had seen here in Efrat. I kind o
f dismissed it, since, of course, it wasn't a funny sign.

Then my brother came to visit. (Perhaps you remember his catch here. More to come...) Around and about, he found a bunch of funny signs, and in his collection, this unfunny one appeared once again. That's when I understood that there's a good chance that the unfunny is only in my head - if others seem to consistently find it entertaining, who am I not to share? Here it comes:

Yes, there it is, on the electricity pylon thing, toward the bottom. Here, I'll get a little bit closer.

Seems pretty helpful to me. For a country where people often complain about unprofessional behavior and disorganization, I'm pretty impressed. They've got those poky things, so that you really understand that you're not meant to climb up, and a scary sign to boot! I saw it, and I was appreciative.

Apparently, in the real world (outside of my head), this sign is really silly. The claims I heard were:
it's just so funny, it sounds like the name of a movie, it's overdramatic, it doesn't say why there's a danger of death, it doesn't say Don't Climb, it doesn't say Electrocution, it doesn't say High Voltage (it actually does, in Hebrew), it's worthy of background music/percussion (perhaps a "bum bum bum"), and on and on.

So, in the name of equal opportunity, I leave it to you. It's gotten so that I can lean either way, so one doesn't need to feel that one is choosing sides. What do y'all think of this one?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lets go back to the Burgers Bar menu.
Yechiel

toby said...

Patience, patience.

Anonymous said...

When I first saw this one years ago, I found it pretty humorous too. I guess I've gotten used to it.

By the way, love your website!

toby said...

Thanks, anonymous - it's nice to know that someone's out there!