Food Lion: Signs of the Obvious and Clever names

For a change up from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store, the girl and I checked out the Food Lion.

The girl thought this display was impressive:

Personally, I loved the note taped at the bottom, strongly advising that the products were "for display only" and that we should get the actual items from the soda aisle. Whenever I see a sign discouraging something very specific, especially for something that wouldn't strike most people to do, I can only conclude that the specific issue has been an occurrence or problem before.

When I lived in New York, I had a friend who dated a guy who had just moved there. Since New York is one of the most notoriously expensive places to live, he chose to start out at an SRO in Times Square, since he didn't have a roommate, a friend to crash with, or a lot of money. Not to be confused with Standing Room Only at theaters, SRO here stood for Single Room Occupancy, which was basically a bunch of single rooms that shared a common area, which may include bathroom, kitchen, and/or seating/living area. You could usually get a weekly rate which was easier on the pocket than a deposit and rent on a New York apartment. Long-timers at this Times Square SRO tended to be those who were somewhat jobless or panhandled, and/or had a drinking/drug problem, and usually at this point in their lives, had worn out their family and friends' welcomes and patience.

Anyway, this guy was very nice and just needed a cheap place to stay until he could save up for a deposit on an apartment. He and my friend were going to meet up and he had to get something from his room, so he brought her up to the common area which included a kitchen. And above the kitchen sink was a sign in bold black marker that said, "PLEASE - DO NOT URINATE IN SINK". Man, I can't remember how long they dated or even the guy's name, but I will always remember that sign. And that I don't eat off plates that have been washed in a kitchen in a New York City SRO.

Anyhoo, now I don't bat an eye at signs requesting the obvious. In fact, most often, I can't help but crack a smile or smirk when I see them. When I hear someone getting wound up about a sign like "gah! why do we need a sign telling us not to drink from this mall fountain?" I can't help but comment that someone probably did and then conjure up some crazy scenario where some cheap mall-goer thought it was a good idea to slake his thirst with toddler-soaked, dirty penny water and proceeded to vomit all over the mall atrium. And then some mall big wig sighed, better put up a sign.

The other thing the girl and I enjoyed at the Food Lion was their line of generic soda. She and I both enjoy variants of Dr. Pepper. Unlike colas and lemon-lime sodas, that's the one soda that most generics enjoy coming up with other esteemed names. Like Mr. Pibb or the Piggly Wiggly's own Mr. Pig. Well here at the Food Lion, not only did they come up with their own Sir Soda for Dr. Pepper but they came up with a clever take on Mountain Dew:

Dr. Perky and Mountain Lion? This might be a grocery store for me.