I see loads of signs when driving, but it's when I'm walking that I get to stop and ponder. Today I saw this one at a doctor's office near Watford Town Hall. I get the "no parking" request, but the accompanying words are confusing. Is it no parking, but patients can pick up stuff there? Is it no parking for patients, but everyone else can pick up something there? It is the patients' pick-up area, but someone forgot to order the apostrophe? Also, if it is the patients' pick up area, what are they picking up? Overall, wouldn't the "no parking" message suffice if the doctor wants to keep that area clear?
I tried to parse this and got all confused. What I think the intent was is that this is the place where you can pull in, but not park (like at the airport, where you can just drop off out front) to pick up patients who have been in to see the doctor and are now awaiting their ride home. And if that is the case, first off, I would have made it "patient" because really, how many people will be picking-up more than one patient? But that doesn't really help clear things up. Also, it would seem that you should be able to pull in there to drop patients off as well, not just retrieve them. I would just scrap the whole thing and go with some thing like "no parking. Loading zone for patient pick-up and drop-off only" Lacks brevity, but has clarity.
ReplyDeleteNow, if they were going for "patients can drop off *stuff* here, well, that's a whole other thing and it's making my head all hurty.