Law & Society Blog

Along the ceiling of the long walkway connecting the Port Authority and the Times Square subway stations runs a poem: “Overslept, so tired. If late, get fired. Why bother? Why the pain? Just go home. Do it again.”

Who put this exquisitely depressing statement of alienation on M.T.A. property? Given the official looks of the signs, could it have been the M.T.A. itself, which would raise a fundamental question indeed: Are complex organizations capapble of irony? Apparently they are! Here is an excerpt from the FAQChest’s Railroad edition, quoted from Scribbling.net:

The sign is not meant as a cruel joke but rather to relay an artist’s empathy for the commuting public. The sign was commissioned 10 years ago through the M.T.A.’s Art for Transit program as a temporary work. The artist, Norman B. Colp, said the work was inspired by the old Burma Shave advertisements that were seen along highways from 1927 to 1963. The signs were spaced a few hundred yards apart and were to be read one line after the other as you traveled along. The piece in the walkway combines the Burma Shave model with Mr. Colp’s experience as a commuter, one who recalls that he “made it to work barely on time.

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