“A heads-up. Starting in 2015, the new Second Avenue Subway will help relieve overcrowding on the Lexington lines. Overdue, but excellent news.”

When I hear the phrase, “Heads up…” on a subway, I tend to expect it to be followed with something like, “there’s something weird on that handle…” or, “that guy is rummaging through your bag…” or, “your leashed puppy is on the other side of the train door.”

Something with… immediate importance. “Heads up” is a need-to-know-NOW exclamation, often why it is shouted just before a poorly aimed Frisbee clocks an unsuspecting jogger in the mouth or a careening soccer ball kicked by an overzealous father takes a toddler clean off her feet.

Granted, giving someone “a heads-up” does imply you’re letting them know in advance, but I would venture to say that it is understood to have relevance to a more immediate situation. “A heads-up” 6 years in advance seems to warrant a more appropriate headline – something like, “Notice…” or, “By the way…” or possibly, “Sucks to be you now, but…”

The next time I have a 6’8” man’s underarm pressed over my head, a 5’1” woman’s excessively large, patent-leather handbag pushing my knees out the other direction, and a yellow-toothed old man reeking of alcohol breathing over my shoulder, I’ll do my best of finding comfort in this “overdue, but excellent news.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am and is filed under signs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.