That 'Elderly Persons' sign: Can you do better? The revelation yesterday that some old timers didn't much like being portrayed as hunchback cripples on the UK's "Please don't run over elderly persons" road sign prompted the rather intelligent suggestion from some commenters that we at El Reg should offer a suitably non-patronising alternative. UK elderly persons road sign …
Ah, but Wiki has this to say:
"Kyphosis (Greek - kyphos, a hump), in general terms, is a common condition of a curvature of the upper spine. It can be either the result of bad posture (slouching) or a structural, muscular abnormalty in the spine.
In the sense of a deformity, it is the pathological curving of the spine, where parts of the spinal column lose some or all of their lordotic profile. This causes a bowing of the back, seen as a slouching posture. Symptoms of kyphosis, that may be present or not, depending on the type and extent of the deformity, include mild back pain, fatigue, appearance of round back and breathing difficulties. Severe cases can cause great discomfort and even lead to death."
So there you have it, OED nil, WiKi one
I started Illustrating an old guy asleep on a chair with The Guardian on the armrest and some bourbons on t'other. Then I realised it's nigh on 14.30 and there are more important things to do, damn you work!
Failing that, a doctor's waiting room, stamping a Bingo card, or trying to pass motions on a Commode are all viable themes - get to work, unemployed artists!
Paris 'cause, well, she's an unemployed "artiste" isn't she. Bless.
Surely if the old folks in question *aren't* hunchbacked old cripples then they should be able to cross the road without difficulty - thereby negating the need to warn drivers to be careful of them?
What next, a petition by does to have a gender-neutral 'deer crossing' sign?
It's political correctness gone mentally-challenged!
Our servers are down today, so nothing useful can be accomplished. Cue starting Paint for very bad "artwork".
(though possibly the servers are down BECAUSE of this? Our local BOFHs might be sitting down with felt tips as I type!)
The helicopters don't need no steenking road signs...!
OED lists the stem kypho-, from the Greek for crooked, as a variant of cypho-. Cyphosis has a main entry all to itself, just after cyphonism, "punishment by the {kappa}{guacu}{phi}{omega}{nu}, a sort of pillory in which slaves or criminals were fastened by the neck... ...by which the neck of the malefactor is bent or weighed downward".
As Wiki doesn't have the variant spelling, it may be fairer to say OED two, Wiki one.
Paris, because her neck has been bent downward (or so I've heard)
What's next, Handicap people complaining about being represented as wheelchair bound?
The other Matt has it right, the current representation is much more accurate for the ACTUAL old people you have to watch out for, and has wider shared cultural significance.
But this old people sign is the least of my symbolic worries (because I'm not old). What I'm far more concerned about is having a good glyph to <del>warn me of</del> represent nude beaches. For some reason they have symbols for everything else you can and cannot do at the beaches here, but not the nude bit. And unlike those mythical Brazilian nude beaches, all we have over here are places where the last guys (and ONLY guys) who should be seen naked are.
Mines the one with the Peril Sensitive Sunglasses and "AARP guide to North American Geriatrics" in the pocket.
Says it all. The sign doesn't ask you to be careful because of "elderly people", its asking you to be careful of "older people with impaired mobility, reduced hearing and problems with depth perception".
At least they're walking. Put them in the driver's seat and its fun, fun, fun.....
If I hit a Golden Oldie in my car I suspect I'll be OK and the Oldie will be squished.
My biggest worry might be scratched paintwork from flying false teeth, or perhaps scraping a woolly cardie out of my wheel arch.
This is like warning killer whales that there are slow moving injured seals around.
Just a thought... it might be more effective to warn crinklies that cars have been invented and need not have a man walking in front with a red flag anymore.
W, are you by any chance related to amanfromMars?
Re Drumnadrochit: there's a riding school there that caters to the less-good-at-moving-about-and-that among others. It is near the road but I've never seen them (a) on the road or (b) perched atop a buggy in their wheelchairs.
A "nutters coming the other direction all over the (swervetastic and barely double-track) bloody road" sign wouldn't go amiss on that stretch, too.
but apparently the other cold-hearted bastards in here beat me to it.
BTW Amanda...."as if insisting those damned kids stay off his lawn". Priceless.
Perhaps a warning triangular sign with a lovely sunset on it...possibly a sign with a solid pale, soothing institutional green color....or perhaps a garish floral pattern.
Bah!
Get off my lawn you little bastards!
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