Do not touch out of curiosity or without intention to buy.
Do not touch out of curiosity or without intention to buy. - the Staff This handmade sign is a bit of vernacular culture but it is not a Polite Paper Sign. I've collected Polite Paper Signs for a long time now, both to celebrate vernacular culture but also to just pay attention to the ways that people use politeness as a part of their persuasion strategies when operating in public places which do not allow them to mandate their preferences. Even though this sign employs a tone that relies on authority rather than kindness or an ethic of politeness, its remarkable demands do put my head into a tailspin. Under what conditions, precisely, am I allowed to touch one of the baked goods on this counter? What if, for instance, curiosity is not my primary motive in touching one of these pastries, but it is a slight small motive? Does that hint of a secondary or tertiary motive undo the other mor...
