Normative Signs: The Poetry of "Ought"

This one is rather awkward.

This sign is posted in the Admiral’s Club at terminal D of Dallas Fort Worth airport. It’s posted on the door of the “Family Lounge,” an area where parents can take their small children to relax, play, whatever. The sign is presumably intended to remind people that if you don’t have a kid with you, you shouldn’t be hanging around this room. It is intended, in other words, as a pedophile deterrent.

A couple of questions come to mind:

What creepy behaviour led to someone thinking or realizing that a sign of this sort was necessary? Signs like this always have a history. (On second thought, I don’t want to know.)

Second, what was the meeting like? You know, the meeting at which the exact look-and-wording of the new sign was debated. What’s the right way to signal that you don’t want creeps leering at the kids? Interesting (and not surprising) that rather than being blunt, they opted for being cutesy. Which is, in itself, slightly creepy.

Thanks to Wayne for the photo.