Thursday, September 23, 2010

Effective Communication

I saw this recently on my way to work.
I couldn't help but wonder about the thought process that led to the decision to communicate with the city using this method.
I imagine the concerned citizens (I'm assuming that it took two inspired neighborhood watchmen to create this message)  had a discussion that went something like this….

Concerned Citizen #1: Man, I sure am tired of that crackhouse being in our neighborhood. I wonder if there's a good way I can let the city know how I feel. Maybe I should write them a letter?
Concerned Citizen #2:  Nah, that'd take too long. And besides, who wants to have to go to the trouble of finding paper and pen then spending almost .50 on a stamp. No way.
CC#1:  Maybe I should call them?
CC#2:  Nope. That would require looking up a phone number and pressing at least 7 buttons on your phone.
CC#1:  I know, how about a twitter or facebook message?
CC#2:  You're kidding, right?
CC#1:  I got it! You see that can of spray paint over there? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
CC#2:  Aw Yeah!!!


Maybe it didn't go like that. We'll never know.
That will be left up to our imagination. Much like the answer to these questions.
1.)    Did they not have enough spraypaint for punctuation?
2.)    Are they saying, "Hello City, This is a crackhouse. Please tear it down."? Or are they requesting for the city to tear down all crackhouses?
3.)    Why silver paint? Was it all they had? Is there another color that could have communicated their thought more clearly? Like Magenta?
4.)    Is the owner of that house upset by the commentary on his wall?
5.)    Is this the beginning of a new way to communicate with city leadership? Will we see more messages to the city in the coming weeks?

If you had a can of spray paint, what would you tell the city today?

1 comment:

  1. There are messages like this in Woodlawn... I think it's more of a passive aggressive way to hate on your neighbors.

    Since I don't have spray paint, I just steal my neighbors magazines.

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