Drink....

A sticker on a car read : Drink Coffee and Drive.


Definitely a very positive way of saying Don't drink and drive. The road tradition and some handed-over wisdom says that this statement refers to alcoholic drinks only, but if you take a careful look, this statement is not written for anyone to take it serious. Frankly, it is not explicit enough to understand what not to drink and the general psychology is to ignore sign posts that you dont understand or you dont want to understand.....'Who is anyone to stop me from drinking? How does it matter if I drink juice, coffee, soda, water and then drive??' If this sounds like a teenager questioning the sign post, yes, that's what most people do, I believe....

Another angle....


We all have a tendency to ignore the usual statements ( we are tuned to forget the significance of the often heard/used words, signs, expressions or just about anything for that matter.... )... if you are not sure, tell me how many times you respond to a 'Good morning' or a 'Good day' wish properly... Same goes with 'Take care'. Its often said and seen as a routine sign-off or send-off word... most often without any significance to the meaning....

No one really cares about the stereotypical statements however important they are.. at least, that's true of the 'No Smoking' or ' Don't drink and drive' or 'Wear Helmets' or ' Stop, Look, Go' signposts.

So this sticker which recommends drinking coffee while driving, surely stands out and may be, just may be there is a chance that someone will actually think of not drinking alcohol or not driving when drunk.

Comments

Anonymous said…
While that sticker is not meant to be taken seriously, I think any kind of distraction while driving is dangerous - talking on the mobile, searching for direction from a chit of paper, and yes, even drinking a cup of coffee and driving.

What with the potholes in Bangalore, a small spill can lead to a big accident...
Sowmya Gopal said…
I totally agree with the general tendency to ignore well established facts - something like olfactory adaptation, we are so used to it that our system fails to recognise it.

Here is a link along the same lines - interesting and disturbing at the same time! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f09lQ8Q1iKE&feature=PlayList&p=8BFEA4417B56B88F&index=1

If the link does not work for some reason, search for 'Chris Jordan: Picturing excess' in youtube.

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