Normative Signs: The Poetry of "Ought"

Here’s an instance of a normative sign that apparently attempts to gain additional legal leverage by means of legal sleight of hand. It’s on the window of a hotel room — presumably hundreds of hotel rooms — in South Carolina.

The first sentence says,

Throwing items from balconies is a criminal offence punishable under South Carolina law and will be prosecuted to its fullest extent.

The second sentence says,

South Carolina Criminal Law states that ‘Any attempt to cause unwanted contact by any object that is thrown can be construed as Assault.’

But wait! The first sentence was presumably about throwing anything from the balcony. The second sentence is only about throwing stuff at people. So, launching beer bottles into the pool from the 7th floor at midnight? Go for it!

(Note also the faulty punctuation — the quotation marks. Does no one proof-read a sticker that’s going in a few hundred windows?)

Thanks to Wayne Norman once again.