Bus Bench

America lives for advertising. Ads, as we call them are everywhere. These two are bus bench ads one of which caught my eyes because that's how they are designed: to catch your eyes at your eye level. The one that is closer says that women can get a pap smear for only US $35... This ad misspells the test which when spelled correctly, should read: Papanicolaou. Pap smear is a medical procedure that looks for changes on the cervix of women that could lead to cervical cancer. Generally, cervical cancer is caused by a strain of a virus called Human papillomavirus (HPV) which can propagate via skin to skin contact.

The pap smear was invented by Greek Dr. Georgios Nicholas Papanikolaou, M. D., Ph. D., a pioneer in cytopathology. Although he reported that uterine cancer could be diagnosed by means of a vaginal smear in 1928, his important work was not recognized until 1943.

A word of caution needs to be said here: when you see an ad saying that such and such service or product ONLY costs a low figure of dollars, do not believe it literally or you will be very unpleasantly surprised. The ONLY $35 here may mushroom to a higher bill because of costs associated with doctor visit and laboratory report to interpret the smear by a pathologist are hidden.

The other ad is by a well known real estate agency in Miami. The two telephone numbers tell a story about the urban sprawl of Miami Dade county. Originally, telephone numbers for Miami have area code (305.) By the year 1998, the seven digit telephone numbers can no longer support the population growth, and area code (786) was added.

I think the Pap Smear ad really dominates the scene here, and if I were the person who designed the sign for the real estate agency, I would go back to the drawing board because the Pap Smear is getting all the attention, and the readers only have a few seconds to read.

By the way, pap smear are for women only, so men need not apply.