People gotta sell stuff

...posted here at MidWest Voices at the Kansas City Star...

People gotta sell stuff. Ugly billboards are ugly. Attractive billboards are interesting. You know the ugly and the attractive when you see it. You ignore the dumb billboard when you read it. Go to the Crossroads in Kansas City to see some artsy hip billboards seemingly selling nothing when really it’s selling art, an artist and an artful lifestyle.

People gotta sell stuff and put up signs telling you they have something to sell. Legislating billboards is dumb in these lean times when people aren’t selling enough stuff.

It’s hard to legislate ugly.

I encourage people who gotta sell stuff to contact their elected representatives who get paid with all the tax revenue coming from the stuff we gotta sell, to let people who gotta sell stuff put up signs to tell people what they gotta buy. People who gotta sell stuff outa hire smart people who sell signs to help them put up an interesting sign. Too often, people who gotta sell stuff don’t have the time or smarts to craft a smart sign. People who gotta sell their billboard to people; don’t forget them.

Times are tough for people who gotta sell stuff. Let ‘em put up signs. If they put up ugly signs, don’t buy their stuff. If you like their billboard sign and you want to buy their stuff, buy it if you can. If billboards distract you, do your best to pay attention to the stuff that matters.

And please have a look at the digital billboards to the right of this column. These people need to sell stuff and this site sells space to the people selling stuff in the hopes that maybe you’ll buy and keep this site lit up. But you know all this, because you’re probably trying to sell stuff, too.