There was a reading for a project I am script editing in some dreary function room in Ladbroke Grove this morning. It's the same room in which we rehearsed the first series of
Time Gentlemen Please. Before moving somewhere nicer for the second series because it was too sad and depressing. Luckily we weren't in there for too long.
The toilets were out in the corridor, the ladies' a bit more obvious than the gentlemen's, so someone had kindly put up a sign directing any men who needed the facilities. It was a printed and laminated affair and said "GENTS" and and had some arrows beneath it pointing to the corner where the toilets were.
However, someone has presumably decided that this sign was not quite clear enough, as in a hand-written scrawl underneath is the word "Toilet".
Let's ignore the fact that the apostophe is now definitely required (where before it could just have been directing any "gents" to the toilet - but where should the apostrophe go? Is gents short for gentlemen or is gent short for gentlemen and gentleman. I suppose you would say "there are some gents over there" if some gentlemen were being indicated, so presumably "gents'". I wait to be corrected), what I want to know is what did the person scrawling on the card think they were adding or clarifying here. Did he or she think that people might follow the sign expecting to see some actual gents just lounging around, waiting for a woman to come in so they could stand up or hold the door open for her? Is there anyone in the world who is not aware that "gents" is short-hand for "gentlemen's toilet"? It was helped by the fact that the sign was directly next to the ladies'. It doesn't take Columbo to work out what's probably going on here.
So was there any need to deface a perfectly functional and well appointed sign for the sake of some fool in a million who might be confused? And if you felt it was necessary would it not have been better to ask the people in charge of the building if they could just print another sign up? Or at least ask someone with nicer handwriting to have a go at adapting it?
I am bamboozled and astonished by the world in so many ways.
But none of this is as embarrassing as being caught by one of the actresses taking a photo of the sign, which explains the poor quality of the shot!
