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Picture of the Week – The Polite Canadian Sign

A Very Polite Sign, Ottawa, May 2013
A Very Polite Sign, Ottawa, May 2013

Canadians have the international reputation of being polite and courteous—and this apparently extends to our signs.

Construction work is a pain for everyone, pedestrians and drivers alike. Unfortunately, in Canada, because of our long and harsh winter, spring and summer are known are “construction season”. Tons of projects, from road repairs to paving, from condo developments to building demolitions, are underway all across the city. This often causes traffic delays, roadblocks, dust and leads to a myriad of little annoyances.

Fortunately, this über-polite sign makes of forgetful:

“Work in progress.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

These improvements are for you.”

Well, I’m not sure if I will benefit from these improvements, whatever they are, but at least the apology sounds sincere!

Welcome to Canada, where our signs are oh-so-polite!

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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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