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Monday, January 3, 2022

Kvetches and Cats

A small-ish complaint for the first Monday of the new year—this wall area at the Mission Hill Mass Eye and Ear office. It’s the text, not the art, that I have a problem with.   

and the deaf shall hear…’ In my head I see Charlton Heston, all decked out in Moses gear, loudly pronouncing this from the side of a mountain. Thunder and lightening break out immediately afterward. 

Also, what's behind that ellipsis? Is the omitted part of the sentence your mileage may vary? Had they intended to use an asterisk with annotations (say, a list of which deafies wouldn't hear) below? Did they forget their biblical source (Isaiah 29:18) so the ellipsis is the text equivalent of the designer flipping his/her hand saying 'Oh, you know. It's that bible thingie.'  I'm imagining the pitch meeting now: 'Why just put pics on the wall? Let's use grandiose text! Now, I can't remember the context but wouldn't this sentence fragment look GREAT here?'

I get that the, doubtless well-intentioned, wall art is meant to provide hope and wonder to the pool of deaf folk who are actually able, and want, to benefit from med advances so they can hear. That’s great. Meanwhile, I walked by the wall and thought, what a profoundly melodramatic, misleading and insensitive pile of one dimensional PR theater.

OK, it's a cold wet dreary Monday after a lovely long weekend. I think we need burrito cat pics. Don't you?

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