JL CherryThere is a relatively small newspaper that is distributed to members of a community near my home. I don’t receive the publication (unfortunately) delivered directly to my home each week, but usually wind up picking a copy during my travels.
The paper provides its readers with news value, certainly, but it also serves as a kind of PSA -delivering common sense to its readers. A few weeks ago the headline read something like “Wattles Road is Closed. Don’t Go There.” Really, it did. Apparently, with all the orange signs posted that said “Road Closed,” many people were still having a problem grasping the general concept and were winding up in all kinds of awkward situations as a result.
The crime watch is another helpful place for readers. Readers can read tales of victims who arrived to their vehicles the next morning only to be stunned to find their Cartier sunglasses, laptop computer, iPod and wallet filled with $5,000 cash missing from the front seat of their UNLOCKED car.
The editor will usually take the time to point out that if you leave the car unlocked, it’s likely your valuables will not be found when you return to your UNLOCKED car. She reminds people week after week. Yet, every week there is the expected crime brief which starts off with “A Main Street residents reporters his “Louis Vutton wallet, credit cards and cell phone were stolen. . ” Well, you get the idea.
If the sign says “Road Closed,” do you think that applies to everyone but you? Isn’t keeping your valuables out of the sight of thieves simply common sense? Apparently not (and that was a rhetorical question). Maybe they need to add a class in school. It really makes me scratch my head.
