Ebony and Ivory
A road sign on the remote islands of Svalbard has for years warned motorists about bears with a picture of a black animal on a white background, like signs further south warning of deer or elk.
But after complaints that it was unrealistic, the state road directorate made a new sign, reversing the colors to show a white bear, a directorate magazine said.
What? They were afraid that maybe people would see a polar bear and say "Oh, that's not one of those black bears on the warning signs. That must be one of those friendly warm and fuzzy white bears. Let's go pet it."
Which reminds me of one of my favorite "Far Side" cartoons. There's a Mama bear sitting in a cave with two bear cubs. The Mama bear has two human skulls on her hands like puppets. She says to the bear cubs something like "Ok, one more time and then it's off to bed. 'No, Bob, I don't think there are any bears in that cave. How about you?' 'I don't know, Joe, let's go find out.'"
Comments
My husband points out that the kids who were killed by the polar bear in Prospect Park Zoo were told by another child (who ran away) that it was safe to swim in the pond in the polar bear habitat because polar bears were scared of water.
Posted by: julia | September 7, 2003 11:57 AM
Hmm, although I'm not sure that changing the sign would address what was either a myth or a cruel practical joke.
Posted by: Lesley | September 7, 2003 12:04 PM
I was more responding to the cartoon than the signs.
The signs sound like someone in upper-middle-management looking for an Initiative to put in their year-end powerpoint presentation.
Posted by: julia | September 8, 2003 04:23 AM
Oh, okay, I understand. In the comic strip, they were adults. I always believed they were hunters, although I can't remember now if that was due to any explicit images (like rifles or hunting caps) or just an assumption on my part.
Posted by: Lesley | September 8, 2003 11:33 AM