Archive for May 11th, 2011

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Cultural Expressions

May 11, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

Who would have thought that the “caution: children” signs on school buses would be a place for cultural expression?

sign on school bus showing children in traditional dress

I posted this picture before. My best guess it that this is an older sister and younger brother in Emirati dress. Since then, I’ve been watching for these signs on school buses and noticed that the silhouettes reflect the nationality or ethnicity of the school.

boy with headress, girl with bonnet

Again, I’m guessing, but these seem to be Pakistani children, a brother and younger sister.

brother and younger sister

This is a slight variation on the previous.

generic silhouettes of older children

The high school bus has generic figures, but they are clearly older.

two "caution: children" signs on a single bus

This one doubled up, just to be safe. The silhouettes seem to be generic Westerners.

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Time to Once Again Drive Safely

May 11, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

vehicle sign "am i drive safe if not please call"

You may remember that back in the fall of 2009 when we returned from summer travels we noticed that these “Am I Driving Safely” signs had begun to appear on commercial vehicles. Ever since we have been collecting the variations on a theme.

am i driving safely in both English and Arabic

Some are bilingual.

vehicle sign "I am driving safely if not please call"

Some don’t ask, just tell.

vehicle drive safely sign with an incomplete phone number

Good luck calling this number.

vehicle drive safely sign with tiny lettering

Some are so tiny that you have no hope of calling the number unless you are stopped at a light directly behind the vehicle.

lettering on vehicle stating "trained to drive safely"

Nice to know that this one was trained to drive safely.

How am I driving? Your suggestions are valued. Please call...

And, of course, our suggestions are valued.