Unnecessary Sign To The Nth Degree

My big brother Seth Godin has posted a poor quality pic, but we'll forgive him as he must've just snapped it on his mobile (or whatever much more sophisticated device that he has instead of the mobile that we Mr Gumby's here at the PMC use) as he was rushing through boarding at an airport.

Anyway, the picture is funny enough, a prohibition on 'snowglobes', those small, liquid filled nick nacks that you shaked and this white stuff makes a kind of winter wonderland scene. Never knew what they were called but now I do.

But how many people take snowglobes with them on to a plane? Like about three. "Oh, I knew there was something we forgot to buy on our trip, those little nick nacks that you shake and it goes all snowy...". Nah.

His bigger point is, everyone still reads this sign and thus loses a few seconds of their life, at a time when they are likely to be pressed anyway, reading something completely irrelevant. Yet how often we all do this - asking a question we already know the answer to, copying in people on emails they have no reason in the slightest to need, inventing new 'rules' which everyone has to abide by just because of one person's slight misdemeanour...

Just stop wasting people's time!