Asyouwish Derrida 4/8

On page 115 Derrida talks about how "you might see a neon sign for SHELL with a faulty circuit for the S so that it reads HELL, though a similar chance occurrence might have made it read SHE or HE or S ELL: now, what produced those meanings, the reader or the material system on which the sign relied? The method of deconstruction is as important as its consequences"(115). While I do believe this particular sign did not spell hell do to vandalism but rather a glitch in the mechanics, there are definitely other signs or things out there that read differently due to vandalism or rewording. My sorority sisters and I went to Michael's art store to pick up some supplies for an event we were having, on our way back we were topped at a red light. It was at this red light that I looked out the car window and noticed the crosswalk sign for the cross walk button said "push butt to cross gay" in addition to someone writing "cross-dress"in parenthesis. The sign originally and obviously said push button to cross gay (which was the name of the street). My friends and I thought this sign was hilarious and we even got out of the car to take a photo. However we know it is morally wrong to vandalize and yet people do it everyday because they find it amusing to alter the meaning of something. While writing this post I googled "funny vandalized signs". A search which was pretty rewarding and clearly showed that this type of thing happens all the time. A few of the results I came across were a bathroom sign that originally said "Don't Spread Disease, wash your hands after using the toilet" which was then altered to read "Spread Disease, wash your hands in the toilet". Another vandalized sign was one for a speed "Bump" but just read "Bum". I thought these were both fairly funny and in my opinion I believe we need to be able to deconstruct things sometimes, even if it is only for the purpose of creating some humor.