By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
A sign on Punchbowl Street doesn't seem relevant to traffic.
R.E. Gregory of Honolulu has been wondering about a professional-looking metal sign attached to a post on Punchbowl. It says, simply, "DOOR?" Give us a sign on ‘Door?’
OK, there are also a parking-times sign and a one-way sign attached to the same pole. None seem related, and the graphics style of the DOOR? sign is unlike others on the street.
Is it a reminder? A suggestion? A memorial to Jim Morrison? It's certainly been there long enough to have been damaged and straightened-out.
The sign is in front of the Kaahumanu Hale State Judiciary Complex, but the building's maintenance department doesn't know anything about it. Neither does the City's Department of Transportation Services, which is in charge of signs on Punchbowl Street.
Who's it for?
A real clue is the angle it's visible from. It's very obvious as you're leaving the parking lot of the Prince Kuhio Federal Building across the street. You're sitting in your car, you little federal bureaucrat you, and the engine is humming and you've punched out for the day, and you look up, and you think, "Door? Door? Jeez Louise, I left the office door open! The Commies will be able to read my Post-It notes!"
And so, natch, you rush right up and close the door. Thank God for the national-security consciousness that led to this sign being posted.
At least that's the theory, and it's anecdotal at best, among some federal workers who work across the street. They're remaining anonymous because they're not positive about the genesis of the sign.
So, if you know, tell us. Even if it's an eyes-only, top-secret, national-security issue.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin.
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