London Signs That’ll Make You Laugh, Wonder, and Reflect
Hilarious and intriguing signs spotted while traveling
This piece was inspired by the Monthly Challenge prompt on Globetrotters: Signs.
I was walking through a Christmas Market in Leicester Square on a frigid night. The brutal temperatures seemed to have no effect on the heaving crowds.
Despite living in London for years and visiting it every year, I never visited the Christmas Market in Leicester Square. It’s free with many Germanic food stalls and a fun place to be.
While meandering through, I spotted the above sign at a trinket store in the market. At first, it was semi-blocked because of two teens engaged in playing ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ (I was surprised that they weren’t on devices).
I had to take a photograph so I asked them if they could move — they obliged politely. As I took the photo, I chuckled to myself. Was the sign rebelling against toxic positivity? Was it telling us that it’s okay to burst out once in a while? I also noticed how the crown was upside down, defying its normal portrayal in the usual ‘Keep Calm’ posters.
I wonder if there are bumper stickers for the same sentiment? I imagine the owner of such a sticker wouldn’t be averse to the occasional road rage and is probably best avoided.
The sign above was also found in London, but I wasn’t walking this time. I was on the top deck of a double-decker on Regent Street, a premier shopping destination in the city.
I remember peering down to watch the summer crowds. Don’t you just love people-watching? And then I spotted the triangular sign:
‘Warning — Violent Siblings!’
At first, I thought it was clever marketing for a new store, perhaps co-founded by a set of siblings. I liked the name and also didn’t like it at the same time. I had to get off at the next stop and so couldn’t search it up on my phone.
After a few days, I remember searching it up. Turns out that ‘Violent Siblings’ is a Grime/Hip Hop duo from West London. Grime is a genre of urban music from London. I remember listening to Grime tracks here and there as a young professional but couldn’t tell you the ins and outs of it.
Nevertheless, I thought this sign was a stroke of marketing genius, a clever deal struck by the publicists of the band and ‘Transport for London.
Do you think that older people would be horrified by the sign and too disturbed to search for it on their phones?
The sign says it all. This time, I was leaving the train station (can’t remember which one) shortly after Sinead O’Connor’s untimely death.
I don’t think it’s only at this station, but there’s a handful of London Underground stations where someone from their staff writes poignant messages related to current events.
I thought this was simple, yet beautiful. RIP, Sinead.
Finally, I want to leave you with another sign while walking at the junction of Baker and Dorset Street in Central London in the summer of 2022.
We walked a lot that day, and when one does so — it’s a brilliant opportunity to spot things out of the ordinary.
Believe it or not, this sign belonged to a card store on the street. My kiddo loved the sentiment and went back to photograph it.
It’s funny, but it also made me think. Are we trapped on a hamster wheel in a matrix, with a pre-defined end?
Maybe that’s why we travel. To get off our hamster wheels and discover kinks of wonder in our existence full of Groundhog Days. That’s what keeps us young, so that we don’t grow up.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading several pieces for this monthly prompt. Here’s a couple that stood out for me. Scott-Ryan Abt travels far and wide and muses about the signs he comes across.
Adrienne Beaumont talks about the wide variety of signs she discovered on her trip to Romania.
