The Writing on the Wall

Graffiti is generally bad, a kind of ugly little social ill that makes things ugly. We know this. Efforts to limit its spread seem kind of useless. Back at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, there was a "graffiti wall" in one of the bathroom stalls--you could write whatever you wanted there and it wasn't erased. I don't recall that it ever stopped people from writing graffiti on the other surfaces anyway (though it did prove the only time I've engaged in "tagging" [as the kids call it] myself. My message? "Repent--the day of judgement is at hand.").

It has spread even to unexpected places. Sure, it seems to be expected that gas station bathrooms, stadium restrooms, or other high-traffic areas. I must admit to being surprised at just how much graffiti accumulates at SBVC--we've got the population for it, but I just always assumed there'd be some modicum of respect on a campus of higher education. Dumb me.

It's also shown up in the Barnes & Noble where I grade in Redlands. Who goes into a bookstore to tag the bathroom? "I just ducked in to pick up the latest Pynchon novel and decided to leave my mark so all the homeboys who come in before the book club this week?"

There were two odd examples of graffitio in the B&N restroom. One read "Anglos Go Home Pleez." I was glad to see racism going both ways and not the usual hate just directed at the usual groups. This was almost cute--how nice was it that the person said "pleez," even if he couldn't spell it? When you're demanding mass emmigration, it's good to be polite.

The other graffiti was much more disturbing. It was a series of pictograms rather than words. The first was a small airplane; the second two boxes that seemed clearly to suggest the Twin Towers; the third a skull and crossbones; and the fourth was a Star of David.

So clearly the hate graffiti is being spread around, and some of the usual suspects still come in for a beating. What an odd place and an odd format to foment your rabid conspiracy theories. I was shocked and saddened.

This post has no good ending. Not sure why I brought this up, really, except that it stood out in my mind. Make of it what you will.