Stop Signs

Posted on April 15, 2003 in California Watch Childhood Neighborhood

Someone went around my home town of San Bernardino, California, carrying a stencil and a can of silver spray paint in about 1970. Over a period of several weeks, stop signs began including the words “The War” below the word Stop. Stop the War. Whenever I saw a stop sign anywhere for many years, I’d look for the phrase. I think the last time I remember seeing one was in the early 1980s.

Tonight I drove past a stop sign at the top of our hill. Below the word STOP were several black streaks, like oil bleeding from the sign.