Five Hand Signs I Hate Seeing in Photos

Let's try something different for today's post. I'd like to share the five finger signs that I hate to see in photographs. You all know and love them, but using them in photos and daily life is really getting old. We all have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs (usually), why can't we come up with something more creative?

These are in order.

Number five: The ASL sign for love.



Alright, I actually took two years of ASL and love the Deaf, but I hate when everyday people use this sign as away to communicate their deep and unfailing love for someone. You would think the fact that a person wants to take a picture of you (and possibly keep it) shows this person likes you and may even love you, and also knows that you feel the same way without needing you to use a hand sign to remind him or her of this fact. Talk about smothering someone.


Number Four: The Rock sign, or We Are About to Rock sign, or This Song is So Awesome sign, or I'm a Rebel That Shows My Individuality By Throwing Up the Most Used Hand Sign By Nearly Everyone in the World.

I'll be the first to admit that I've thrown this sign up many a time in the heat of a great rock concert, but I don't use it in everyday life or for photographs. There really isn't anything rocking about taking a picture.

I've also noticed there are a lot of people who use this sign that are trying too hard to prove they really know how to rock by learning the secret hand sign, but in all reality the closest thing they've come to rocking out was seeing Yanni on PBS, once.



Then, of course, there's the other end of the spectrum -- the guy with the huge gut wearing the really tight black concert T (he bought when he was 16) with thinning long hair. He usually has the "I haven't taken a shower or even been fully naked in months look." This guy flashes the sign way too often. I think it's more to do with the fact that he's at a point in his life where he can't tell if he is or isn't at a concert. He's got that buzzed look all the time, and rather than be taken for some kind of poser, he flashes the sign every chance he gets, just to be on the safe side.


Number Three: Hang Loose

My first thought on seeing this sign in photographs is, Have you ever surfed a day in your life? Let alone seen a surf board? And really if you're sitting on a sofa or on a family vacation to Yellowstone, do you need to remind people that you're hanging loose? Just because you're visiting Hawaii doesn't mean you know how to adopt their culture. There's nothing wrong with relaxing on a vacation, but it's not like the natives appreciate you adopting, and then mutilating, the meaning of their hand signs.



I personally would be afraid to flash this sign casually, what happens if a Polynesian surf squad is out there tracking down and killing all the whities flashing that sign. I am sure it bugs them to no end seeing us use it. It takes away from the original meaning (whatever that is). They will find you one day and stomp your puny butt into the ground.

Number Two: Giving the Bird, Giving the Finger, or Flipping Someone Off

OK, this is a big one for me, it's very similar to the love sign. Do you really want to be giving the person the bird just for taking your picture? I mean, when you're 80 years old, well wait, never mind, if you're regularly giving the bird in photographs I think we all know you won't make 80, you'll be lucky to make 50. You'll probably die in a back alley bar with your wrinkled tattooed body lying in its own puke. But just in case you make it to 80, do you want to force your loved ones to try to find the best photograph they have of you for your funeral and all they have to choose from are pictures of you flipping the bird?



And the most-hated sign I see people use in photographs that makes me want to puke and kill myself a dozen times over.

Number One: PEACE

Give me a break! First off, who doesn't want peace beyond the "secret government puppet masters"? Everyone wants peace, so do we really need to tell each other that we in fact do not like war and would prefer to live in a world where there was no war? Seeing those stupid splayed fingers makes me want to go on a killing spree, which in fact is giving off the opposite reaction than what the person is trying to convey when flashing the sign. So please, for the love of peace, stop using it!

I also hate the stupid teenagers that try to make the peace sign "sexy" by displaying it sideways or covering parts of their face or crap like that. I mean, really, do we need to make everything about sex, even peace? I know, I know, the immortal John Lennon said make love not war, but half these girls and boys trying to appear mysterious and coy for their profile pictures only end up making themselves look fools, instead of sexy and politically aware, so let's stop the madness.



There you have it. My top five most-hated hand signs people use in photographs.