Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:08 PM

NYC officials dodge blame for ‘SHCOOL X-NG’ sign in front of Manhattan high school

NYC officials dodge blame for ‘SHCOOL X-NG’ sign in front of Manhattan high school

NEW YORK — Everyone who’s ever gone to school should know how to spell “school.”

But someone who plastered a school crossing sign on the street in front of a New York City high school got it wrong.

A spokesman for the city Department of Transportation said the error was made by a utility provider, not by the city.

The Post says workers apparently cut into the several months ago to get to underground utility lines. When utilities or contractors perform work on a city street, they are responsible for restoring it correctly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/nyc-officials-dodge-blame-for-shcool-x-ng-sign-in-front-of-manhattan-high-school/2012/01/24/gIQAvVGgNQ_story.html

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11 replies	Author	Time	Post
NYC officials dodge blame for ‘SHCOOL X-NG’ sign in front of Manhattan high school (Original post)	The Straight Story	Jan 2012	OP
This is why we can't have nice things. nt	Snake Alchemist	Jan 2012	#1
This was just on noon news.	HappyMe	Jan 2012	#2
Glad I home shcool mai dawter!	The Straight Story	Jan 2012	#3
How many traffic signs do you actually read in a given day?	JHB	Jan 2012	#7
Generally just 'Stop' and traffic lights.	HappyMe	Jan 2012	#9
Incongruous juxtaposition is the soul of comedy, true...	JHB	Jan 2012	#11
The driveway to our elem. school had a sign calling it	elehhhhna	Jan 2012	#4
Reminds me of the opening of the new Bradley International Airport in Hartford.	Atman	Jan 2012	#5
Maybe they didn't have this:	HillWilliam	Jan 2012	#8
The Post is using it to bash the school...	JHB	Jan 2012	#6
Agree 100%. Why the f*ck would the principal be responsible for the painting of parking signs?	Atman	Jan 2012	#10

Response to The Straight Story (Original post)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:17 PM

Snake Alchemist (3,318 posts)

1. This is why we can't have nice things. nt

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Response to The Straight Story (Original post)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:21 PM

HappyMe (11,908 posts)

2. This was just on noon news.

The passersby they interviewed said that they had not noticed the mistake until it was pointed out to them.

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Response to HappyMe (Reply #2)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:22 PM

The Straight Story (41,505 posts)

3. Glad I home shcool mai dawter!

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Response to HappyMe (Reply #2)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:40 PM

JHB (17,811 posts)

7. How many traffic signs do you actually read in a given day?

Can you tell? When you read the same thing over and over you start anticipating what it is supposed to say and not necessarily what is actually there.

When proofreading things, sometimes you have to hand it to someone else to have a fresh set of eyeballs on it. How often does that happen out in the field?

The only thing dumber than the initial error is the hoopla being made out of it.

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Response to JHB (Reply #7)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 01:02 PM

HappyMe (11,908 posts)

9. Generally just 'Stop' and traffic lights.

I think it's kind of funny that the word school is spelled wrong outside of a school.

Is our children learnin'?

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Response to HappyMe (Reply #9)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 03:03 PM

JHB (17,811 posts)

11. Incongruous juxtaposition is the soul of comedy, true...

...the article was a vehicle to bash the school rather than the shoddy work of the the people who actually did it.

Given a choice between faulting the private- or public-sectors, the (com)Post will always reach for the public-bash.

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Response to The Straight Story (Original post)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:26 PM

elehhhhna (26,738 posts)

4. The driveway to our elem. school had a sign calling it

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:26 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Circle of Ecellence

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Response to The Straight Story (Original post)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:31 PM

Atman (26,084 posts)

5. Reminds me of the opening of the new Bradley International Airport in Hartford.

Many years ago, gotta be about 25 now, Hartford's "Bradley Field" was re-built, and turned into a modern "International" airport...international only because it had one flight to Canada, but I digress.

They built new terminals and new garages. I drove in to pick up my brother one day shortly after the airport re-opened, and the first thing I noticed were the signs lining the roadways in front of the new terminals...hundreds of them, spaced xx number of feet apart...

NO PARKNIG.

Every single sign. Not only did some fool manufacture them without noticing the typo, but another crew of fools actually installed them. LOL!

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Response to Atman (Reply #5)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:46 PM

HillWilliam (3,167 posts)

8. Maybe they didn't have this:

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Response to The Straight Story (Original post)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 12:35 PM

JHB (17,811 posts)

6. The Post is using it to bash the school...

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2012, 03:04 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2)

...and not the unidentified utility provider. (who? Does this company have a name?)

I note the principal comes in for more grief than the (private sector?) provider:

“Nothing surprises me anymore at this school,” (PTA president Marta Valle) said. “What’s ironic is that the principal has probably painted the lunchroom and rooms inside over about five times since 2010.

“She’s probably spent $100,000 in paint doing and redoing the inside of the school, but she doesn’t notice this right outside her door!”
***
But one city worker, who didn’t want to be identified, put the blame on nearby school officials.

“Regardless of who painted it, someone from the school should have been outside supervising, or noticed it by now,” the city worker said. “This is sloppy work.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/in_for_bad_spell_6P0ucEX2cUYafpF8K5zp3L

To be honest, I'm not surprised at all that no one at the school noticed: they see that distorted lettering in the road every day, they know what it is supposed to say, so they didn't actually read it. If you saw a red octagonal sign at a corner, would it necessarily register with you as you're keeping your eye on the road/traffic/pedestrians if it said "SOTP"?

Yes, it's dumb. Blame the people who did it.

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Response to JHB (Reply #6)

Tue Jan 24, 2012, 01:04 PM

Atman (26,084 posts)

10. Agree 100%. Why the f*ck would the principal be responsible for the painting of parking signs?

This is a ridiculous story. And you're totally right about the "reading" part. People don't "read" those signs, they just recall the familiar shape and process the information they already know.

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