Come be professional offended with me!

[HarkTEEHeraldAngelsSing]

Routine xrays today for my orthopaedist. Waiting, in the fetching paper gown, to be called in, I noticed the sign.

Very important notice. Twee graphic.

So I decided to be PO about it.

Who's with me?

Yeah that's pretty naff. A picture of a big cock and balls would probably get more attention

It doesn't need a graphic at all!

really?

What graphics would you suggest?

, and having spent much time having myself zapped, daily I am acutely aware that every penny counts in the NHS,

so asking them to change signs, because the "stork" reference is offensive is just silly.

Make and provide something eye-catching and better, if you feel so strongly, but please don't waste a penny of NHS money dealing with this.

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Who said anything about bringing it up to the NHS?

And why does it need a graphic at all?

I knew my joking PO post would bring out the real ones.

I just didn't think it would happen so fast.

Surely if a great big carnivorous bird delivers babies than you don't have to worry about being X-Rayed?

Quite a lot of the time when people are going into radiotherapy/x rays, their heads are all over the place with worries,

I went day in day out for therapy, as well as lots of scans, even when it was the same staff they go through the any possibility of pregnancy routine, over and over,

we chatted about it, they do get women that despite all the efforts to check, suddenly remember they are, or could be,

I guess they need a graphic which relates to pregnancy but not show it, as there are people who will have to have terminations for treatment, if they put the baby in the womb image it may be far more upsetting for someone going through a truly hideous set of circumstances, so a one degree separation image has been chosen.

So treating all women like children is the answer?

Lowest common denominator signage.

Oh how I fucking hate the tweeing of the world.

What's wrong with a straight forward symbol of a woman? It works on female toilets.

There you go. Perfect, honey.

Or how about, I don't know, no graphic at all!

I thought no graphic. But in fairness they do want to draw the attention of women. Ergo female sign.

Yes Tee. Lowest common denominator sign. Because not everyone is degree educated. Not everyone reads signs. Not everyone CAN read. A stork delivering a baby is an easily recognisable graphic that will catch people's attention quickly.

I know you started this OP as a joke, but your post at 11.12 is a little harsh. Why not try to understand that the NHS is trying to communicate as best it can to the largest amount of people it can.

Okay, I'll give you that.

The sticker does look very old, BTW, so I would imagine it's been there as long as the hospital, or nearly.

I think the NHS's understanding of how babies are made is far more worrying...

Even more worrying is that people actually give a shit about any of this.

Would a stork that skinny be able to carry a baby fully extended? I think not.

Not only is it twee and against nature, it is also against physics. WHICH IS WRONG.

now if it had been a team of African Swallows with the baby suspended in a sort of vine papoose that would have been much more convincing

The only thing that offends me is the term professionally offended - which is usually bought out when someone tries to challenge something which is genuinely offensive.

But re the sign having a graphic - lots of people can't read and in stressful situations people tend to notice graphics more than written signs.

Yabu. Because people generally knows what the stork means (aside from good chocolate) and the idea is to make sure people read the sign

Those signs are everywhere I think. It's a bit meh. Now apparently when a certain new hospital was built they forgot that women could be surgeons too so didn't build a female consultants changing room just a male one. Now that raised my hackles...

There is something a bit perverse in illustrating a sign that relates specifically to the fact that babies grow inside you with a graphic that suggests they don't .

Unless a time traveller from 1910 wanders in it's unlikely anyone will actually be confused , but it's an odd choice. And I think the stork/baby connection is a very culture-specific thing so it's not even a great choice as an easily-recognisable image.

Hypothetically, if redesigning the sign, I'd agree with HoneyDragon -- standard female symbol is probably the best. It draws attention, isn't twee, won't trouble ornithophobes...

That is an old sign - the more modern ones are a cartoon baby in utero sating 'tell them I'm here mum' in 10 or more languages.

But women not saying that they are, or might be pregnant is a huge problem, and they have to do everything possible to ensure women/girls get the message - and the stork is amazingly widespread as a symbol tbh

But according to quote a baby in utero will upset people.

I was harsh, perhaps. But I am in real life too, so why should I not be here?

If we're being harsh, is it ok to say that I couldn't give two shiny shits about the sign?

Fuck yes tether!

I would also like to say fuck you to autocorrect. No, I did not mean duck.

Fuck the duck.

And the stork.

Fuck all aquatic birds. The cunts.