Men at Werk

As blunders go, it was pretty mundane: a misplaced stencil, a hurried work crew, a distracted applicator... but no matter how pedestrian the elements of this error were, the resulting hubbub has been nothing short of galactic. And I missed it. That's right, when a local road crew effed up the S Word, I was off covering something totally dull. By the time I returned to El Ocho, evidence of the spray-painted typo adorned the bulletin board. I caught sight of it and promptly harrumphed, but then I moved on quickly, unaware that the foolish SHCOOL sign was not just the latest web flotsam to wash ashore, but was actually laying in the middle of the road just a few miles away. But while I lounged in an edit bay, others pounced.

Citizens, news crews, still photographers and a stoner or two. All rushed to the spot where the consonants flip-flopped. A great gawking began. But as with everything these days, the rubberneckers aren't the only ones to enjoy the view. For every smart-ass that showed up to gloat, a camera or smart phone came along for the ride. Soon both pros and amateurs alike were foisting their lenses at the sun-baked flub and squeezing 'til their fingers tingled. You probably know the rest. The pixelated image of this lowly spot bounced across the heavens, as newspapers, websites and more than few TV stations clamored to capitalize on one road crew's orthographic error. Little could they know when they laid down the paint, they'd provide fodder for the (inter)national consciousness.

Not bad for a handful of guys who can't spell.