11 Comments
User's avatar
Dexter's avatar

There is a door in my office building with NO handle, just a plate where the handle would normally be. The entrance door is further down the hall. They have a sign on the door saying, "THIS IS NOT A DOOR".

Judi K's avatar

For the icebreaker: Green Onions, Booker T & the M.G.s! Mustang Sally and anything else by Wilson Pickett. Everything Marvin Gaye ever recorded (and a fellow Washingtonian).

Anne Kadet's avatar

I have always loved hand made signs and couldn’t say why. This lady nailed it!

Lisa Germany's avatar

Loved this! I sure could have used a note on the door to the place where I was staying in Iceland the first time. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to lock the darn thing! In all my travels, I'd never come across the type that requires you to push the door handle up in order to lock it. I stumbled upon the mechanism finally after much frustration and completely by accident!

Similar the first time I got into an old beetle and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put it into reverse. Had to go ask someone... Turns out you needed to push down on the gear shift before shifting. Maybe this was common knowledge back in the day, but certainly not for me.

Marc Weidenbaum's avatar

Thanks for the shout-out!

Angela Weisser Moore's avatar

Brilliant! I see these signs everywhere but never imagined someone could do a TED talk on them. Thanks for sharing!

Deb M's avatar

Delightful post today. Her TED talk was funny and so very tender (as she says the signs make her feel). Thank you for this sweet moment making my day.

Karen O's avatar
6hEdited

Rob, your newsletter is just the greatest thing ever! I love it so much! This edition was really superb - I loved your guest interview and her TED talk. And the article about signs in New Orleans was wonderful too. You really made my day!!

Rob Walker's avatar

My goodness thank you so much!

Marsha Hosfeld's avatar

Reminds me of times when I thought I had given clear instructions, and the person I gave them to does a totally different thing. Or asks me a question that makes me realize I didn't do such a great job of explaining after all!

Dave Reed - Dammit David!'s avatar

That Ted Talk came up in my YouTube recs recently. It's so good.