New Brunswick — Great eggs-pectations have led to great disappointments for many travellers driving along New Brunswick highways.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure makes signs meant to clearly point out landmarks and attractions that can be found in nearby cities and towns. One of these signs in particular, though, has many tourists feeling shell-shocked.
“I saw that ‘egg in a cup’ sign on the side of the highway and I thought, ‘Thank heaven, I can pull over and enjoy a nice boiled egg!'” exclaimed Ontario native Marissa Forsythe, who drove to New Brunswick to visit relatives over Christmas break. “But when I followed the sign, there was no egg in a cup to be found. In fact most places I asked had never even heard of eating an egg from a little cup with a spoon. They looked at me like I was cracked.”
Ken Wilder of Manitoba made the trek east for other reasons, and was confused not only by the egg-cup image, but several others highway signs as well.
“They’ve got this sign showing a hand holding what looks like a vase or a jar,” he told us, “I assumed that meant I could hand over the cremains of my great-aunt Bertha to someone who’d take good care of her for me. I promised my family I’d scatter her ashes in the Bay of Fundy like she wanted, but that’d add a couple hundred kilometres to this already boring trip. Despite the sign, though, no matter where I drove, not a single hand reached out to take the urn from me. What a crock!”
Quebecer Georges Mineau said the starfish sign in particular threw him off.
“In Quebec, starfish is a rare delicacy,” claimed the peeved visitor. “I hit every restaurant within 50 kilometres of that sign, though, and not one of them even had starfish on the menu. What the heck are they trying to say with that?”
Mineau said the only sign that wasn’t confusing was the one showing a mug of beer.
“Well yeah, that makes complete sense if you think about it — it let me know where there’s a local brewery serving fresh beer — no-brainer. I stopped into a brew pub and had a pint, but wouldn’t you know it, they served neither starfish nor a boiled egg in a cup!”
Green Party Leader and MLA David Coon says signs should be clearer; he himself was duped by the one that shows a tea cup between a fork and a knife.
“I’ve been trying to shave away a few pounds — New Year’s resolutions and all that — so I thought I could replace some of my meals with tea,” he told us. “But when I pulled over at a diner they gave me tea with a little packet of sugar and a couple of creamers…no fork and knife. It’s going to be pretty hard to trick my stomach into feeling full if I’m just drinking tea the normal way. Highly disappointing.”
Coon, frustrated by the tea incident, claims he got back in his car to head home.
“But then I noticed one of those big question mark signs, so I pulled over next to a building that said ‘Information’ and asked the teenage boy behind the counter what the meaning of life is. All he could tell me was when the tide was coming in.
“He did offer me a boiled egg in a cup, though. Nice kid.”
I was actually searching for the answers to the what the hand under the pot symbol meant. Funny article but still stumped