Please Watch Your Step!

Last week I served jury duty for the first time. Although every American seems to dread this civic duty, I spent two very welcome days away from the office.

I decided to go to my favorite restaurant in Chinatown for lunch during my second day of jury duty. After a very filling and greasy meal of sticky rice and scallion pancakes, I headed downstairs to use the restroom before heading back to the courthouse when I noticed a sign I never saw before.

Mid-way down the stairs was a sheet of paper taped on the wall above the handrail at an angle parallel to the stairs. "Please watch your step!" I read. And then laughed. And then wondered, who would think to put that sign here? Usually these signs are posted at the top or bottom of a staircase. I would hope that a person who was halfway up or down the stairs would notice the steps by then.

Too bad I didn't have a digital camera with me. It would be perfect for times like this, and then I could be one of those Asians who take an excessive amount of digital pictures of everyday life and post them on my blog.