One job.
They just had one: get the signage right.
But the words on the caboose of the newly-contracted trucks that handle the Sunshine Coast’s waste are missing a little something.
In freshly painted big, bold, black letters, the trucks declare: Lets get waste sorted. No apostrophe.
The council’s dedication to creating a circular economy for waste and to be a net zero emissions organisation by 2041 is admirable, and maybe getting zero for the signage is their first step in that direction.
The trucks – which started work last month when JJ’s Waste & Recycling got to work – are ubiquitous, presumably because our waste needs are many and varied these days, so the textual omission is repeatedly glaring.
Call me a pedant, but punctuation still matters.
It shows care and attention, and if one prominently displayed word is wrong, it makes people wonder what else is being shoddily done.
Lets without the apostrophe is straight, flat-out incorrect and if governments and other authorities can’t get it right, what hope will the average Joe and Joanne have?
Whether those little squiggles and blobs are included or omitted can make a world of difference to meaning.
It’s one thing to see apostrophes thrown around like confetti on fruit shop chalkboards (although I can’t resist using my finger to erase them when I get the chance), but professional sign-writers have no excuse.
Commas also matter.
“Let’s eat, Grandma” is a lovely invitation to dine, but “let’s eat Grandma” indicates you consider her a tasty treat.
In the same cannibalistic vein, leave a comma out and “I like cooking my family and my dog” makes you sound deranged.
That little dash, the hyphen, also punches above its weight in message delivery.
There is an enormous difference between a businessperson re-signing and resigning, for example.
Your great-grandfather might not be a great grandfather, but leaving out the little splodge makes him so.
A red-haired girl without the hyphen is just a red and hairy female.
Our written words and how they are presented link us, help define our culture and indicate the richness of our communication.
In this very visual era, messaging and presentation matter.
In the case of the errant garbage truck signs, it is the difference between knowing you’re rubbish and knowing your rubbish.
Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer. The views expressed are her own.
