The Trouble of Conflicted Messages

Last night, while finding out what the ruckus was about in Mon Repos (all week, I have been hearing people singing on amplifiers who sound too loud to be any good), I encountered the Christmas Village. It was nice, I suppose, with distorted sound mimicking Christmas Carols. I would like to say that what it lost in the distortion it did gain in a vibe that appeared to have many people of the area quite happy for the low price of $10 TT. There were some things for sale in booths, others were doing a bit of outreach - including the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment with some boots and basic stuff anyone in the military would be tired of saying - but which would interest the young (can you say 'recruiting'?). I saw a few people I knew and tried to hold conversations over the talkative woman on the microphone - as one of my friends asked, "Why is it that they give the person who talks the most and has the least to say the microphone? Every time?"

So be it. A lot of people were enjoying it, and I did save myself some trouble with two pretty good pork sandwiches.

With the new camera, I played with a few shots and came to realize I need to get to know my camera a bit better. When leaving, though, I saw the classic 'two crashed cars placed together to send a message' - something which is perhaps not done enough down here, where there is no shortage of wrecked cars. But when I read the message, I wondered. Two signs stuck from the wreckage, as shown in the picture at the top left:

'Christmas Village

Goodwill to all men'

'Christmas Village says drive safely, avoid accidents'.

Both messages are good. Nice. Seasonal. Topical. And the visual of the two wrecked cars, by itself, certainly sends a message. In fact, the message would have been complete with some empty scotch/rum/beer bottles on the hoods of the cars.

But I don't see how two wrecked cars and the message 'drive safely, avoid accidents' is anything but conflicted. It just doesn't integrate well - something I haven't quite been able to put my finger on. Maybe it is that you have to process what is written differently than the visual of the cars. Or maybe it is that a cheerful message does not fit the morbid scene - speaking of which, Belgrove's Funeral Home had a booth at the Christmas Village.

Why not just have a sign that says, "Don't Do This"... or "Avoid this"... or "You may be sober, but they may not be...". I don't know. It simply seems to me that they actually ruined their own message. A pity, that, because it is a good message.

And what about people who do that in other ways, be it in user documentation or expressing one's own opinion in writing or otherwise? Certainly, we have the means to communicate... but it is the nuances that are important. The little things.

Then think about people translating that into a foreign language...