Billboard blues

When you live in the U.S., you may not realize the extent to which advertising has invaded every available inch of your peripheral vision. As I left town, I tried to count the number of signs stuck in the grass beside the road. Along Route 401, I saw signs for professional painting, sealing basements, 50-Plus Expo, various housing developments, mattresses (ALWAYS going out of business somehow), a 5K race, and so on. I gave up counting. There was a Parkway Cleaners in Paoli with a dozen of those stick-in-the-ground signs advertising--Parkway Cleaners. Just in case you couldn't see it, larger than life, next to the road.

You don't see that in Northern Ireland. Nowhere. I think there's a respect for public space that was lost in the U.S., as every business jockeys for attention. Not being constantly marketed to (who thought TV screens at gas pumps was a good idea?) is one of the things I love about living abroad. I don't think other cultures buy into the idea that humans are consumers above everything else.
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