COMMENT OF THE DAY: DRIVING HOME A ROSY VIEW OF HOUSTON’S BLUE TILE DAYS 
“Hopefully [the tile signs are] not just a trend, but a desire to revert to a time when life was much simpler. Maybe one day you’ll be able to walk into a gas station and ask for directions, and if not, call the operator from the closest pay phone to ask where the nearest diner is, because it’s late and you’re tired and hungry from your long drive into Houston. Maybe at the diner the friendly waitress will give the kids an extra cherry on their sundaes while chatting up where a few of the best nearby motels are located. Afterwards, as you drive your 10,000-pound Honda Civic with whitewall tires to the closest motel, you’ll get there by way of curb tiled street signs.” [Toby, commenting on Brand New Vintage Blue Tile Street Sign Now in Place on Upper Kirby Curb]
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Alas, yes – the sweet, sweet past. How we love to reminisce over the “Dandelion Wine”-esque history of our civilization.
And how easily we forget the other stuff. Like how during that long drive, you had to stop in every. single. town. for lack of interstate highways. And if you were a black family, you would not have been allowed inside that diner because of the “Whites Only” sign out front. And how if you were in a car crash, despite your car weighing 10,000 lbs, you were most likely dead because the car had no advanced safety features and rarely-used lap belts.
It is sometimes best to temper dreams with a little splash of reality.