Signs of the Times

I would just like to say that I will be so happy when the upcoming elections are over - for so many reasons. One of which is the fact that I am very tired of seeing political signs on every street corner. For a city with a "No Signs" policy most of the year Tempe sure seems to have its fair share right now.

There do happen to be a few that have made me chuckle though. The red one below is my favorite sign. It says "Return Barry Wong".

There is just something funny about this statement to me. I'm not sure what it is. It could be that Barry Wong just sounds too much like Very Wrong to me, but I think it's the word "Return". This word does not say "Re-elect" to me. When I read it I think more "take back" ie. I returned the shirt to the store because I decided I didn't like it. It also conjours up visions of alien abductions in my head for some reason. Apparently I don't associate positive feelings with this word and that's why it doesn't look right as a campaign slogan to me.

Another one that made me laugh (even though it probably shouldn't have) was for Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Where it said Re-Elect someone had spray painted the word Deport over the top. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not condoning graffiti, but given recent events in the sheriff's department I could agree with the sentiment. I have voted for Sheriff Arpaio in the past, but he will not be getting my vote this year. He has outgrown his famous pink boxers, in my opinion.

Now, having shared with you my aversion to political signs, it may surprise you to know that I was a little upset to see a lot fewer of them as I took my morning walk around the neighborhood this morning. A member of our ward had posted a lot of "Yes on 102" signs in people's yards (with their permission of course) and I noticed today that many of them have disappeared along with a few McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden ones as well. Where did they go?? I can imagine sign thieves sneaking around the neighborhood in the middle of the night pulling up signs, but where do they put them when they are all done? Or maybe everyone just mowed their lawn this weekend and forgot to put the signs back when they were finished. It's a mystery. Just like these signs that I photographed on my way to pick up the son from school that were gone when I returned 15 minutes later.

I wish it were that easy to get rid of some of this years candidates. I wonder if I'd miss them too?