There Are Too Many Campaign Signs in Allston-Brighton

I think it is fair to say that there are too many campaign signs in front yards in Allston-Brighton.

So many that, a week or so ago, my 4-1/2-year-old daughter asked me why there were so many signs in people's yards. I asked her to point out the ones she meant; she identified the campaign signs, not the realtor signs.

We have spent the last week or so identifying those candidate signs everywhere, and she pretty much has the names and colors down pat. She is assisted, of course, by the fact that she has met most of the candidates -- more than once -- so she can connect names with faces with signs and colors.

What is disturbing is her play during bathtime last night. She wanted the (male) elephant plus a series of whales (and shark) for the tub. She lined them up, called them the Water Animals Mayor and City Councilors, and assigned names to each one. (I think she actually meant the candidates for the Water Animals City Council.) I only had to remind her of one name she had missed. Here are her associations:



Not bad, eh?

Obviously, there are too many lawn signs if they are causing young children to play-act with the candidates' names. Ah, but that's democracy in action.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Stick Mosquito convinced a Federal three-judge panel that Boston need not include Chinese transliterations of candidate names on the ballots. I propose we do something a little different: let's use their water animal identifications on the ballot instead. Killer Whale Rosie Hanlon vs. Manatee Tim Schofield vs. Beluga Whale Alex Selvig... you get the drift. Put the images right on the ballot to avoid any confusion whatsoever.

The heavy rains in the last couple of weeks have caused a number of candidates' signs to fall apart and off of their wood posts, including the Ciommo sign next door and a Jenner sign on the next block. Maybe we should pray for rain to get rid of all these signs.