# You never knew they existed. Somebody told you. Now they're everywhere! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529 "2005-09-14T01:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/81 "2005-09-16T14:07:06Z")
Everybody swears that those “cell phone tower trees” are everywhere, but I’ve been looking for them and haven’t seen them since. Does anybody have a photo of one? Maybe it’s a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/82 "2005-09-16T14:09:42Z")
> [@r4nd0mNumb3rs](#): > > Between the ‘E’ and the ‘X’ in the FedEx logo, you can see an arrow. I don’t see it. ( Maybe I was looking at an older truck. But I think the FBI is now tracking me.) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/83 "2005-09-16T14:17:50Z")
Since there is a dead zone in our area from lack of cell phone towers, ( ironically enough, on some days I can call out on my cell phone in my upstairs South East Bedroom - which is closest to Da City Folk - ) but I am thinking of renting out my front yard for the next 50 years to a Cell Phone tower. They are eyesores, but I want to be able to use my phone in my house and get rid of my land line. Dammit. And the plus is I could grow roses up the sides of it. Wouldn’t dat be purty? [Cell Phone Trees](http://waynesword.palomar.edu/faketree.htm) . These look wimpy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/84 "2005-09-16T14:21:03Z")
Those look much better than the cell phone trees I’ve seen, most of which have too-symmetrical branches. There’s one off the Garden State Parkway in NJ south of the big waterball. There are a few here in Massachusetts, too. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/85 "2005-09-16T16:34:25Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I don’t see it. ( Maybe I was looking at an older truck. But I think the FBI is now tracking me.) For your viewing pleasure: [The FedEx Arrow](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/fedex-arrow.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/86 "2005-09-16T16:51:13Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Besides Lost Gloves brought to me by **Mangetout** I’ve noticed **Lost Shoes**. Shoes hanging from power lines. Who puts them up there? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/87 "2005-09-16T17:00:25Z")
> [@Dorjän](#): > > Everybody swears that those “cell phone tower trees” are everywhere, but I’ve been looking for them and haven’t seen them since. Does anybody have a photo of one? Maybe it’s a regional thing? Just look for woodpeckers lying on the ground looking all dazed. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/88 "2005-09-16T17:07:34Z")
> [@caligynephobia](#): > > I mainly notice this in the South and West: [flashing arrow signs](http://www.cotteradvertising.com/assets/portable_arrow_signs/ModelA7_400w.gif). They’re marketed as “signs no business can do without” and they are _everwhere_. I suspect its because they’re sold at Sam’s Club or one of those mega-Wal style stores. Portable signs. The reason you see them a lot in the South is because sign regulations there are far more lenient there than most of the US. They’re banned in the majority of American cities and towns now, with some others permitting them only for a few weeks every year, but they’re very common as year-round displays in Southern states. They’re also very common in Canada, too, for some reason. Want more evidence? Notice that the number and size of billboards along Insterstates will increase by a few orders of magnitude when you cross the state line from the “north” into a former Confederate state or Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/89 "2005-09-16T18:05:38Z")
There are many of these pertaining to a deck of cards. The Jacks… on two of them, hearts and spades, you can only see one eye. These are also the only two with a moustache. The Queens…all are two-eyed, and all are holding some kind of flower, but three are holding the flower in their right hand and only one (hearts) holds the flower in her left hand. The Kings… only diamonds is one-eyed. Only hearts sticks his sword through his head, and only he hasn’t got a moustache. Want another of those ‘Fedex’ things that you can never _not_ notice once it’s been pointed out? Well, the top row of your keyboard contains all the letters you need to spell ‘typewriter’. And from now on, every time you see a keyboard, you will mentally check that this is so. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/90 "2005-09-16T18:18:03Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Shoes hanging from power lines. Who puts them up there? I see this all the time, near housing developments where students live. My other question would be, who gets them down again? Actually, I have another one: if somebody strung your $200 Air Jordans 60 feet up in the air on a power line, wouldn’t you be severely pissed? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/91 "2005-09-16T21:22:31Z")
Tail lights of different shades of red. Until I worked in quality control in a tail light factory, I never thought about variations in plastic batches. Now, I see mismatched lenses every week. I also see a few lights half full of rainwater. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/92 "2005-09-17T00:06:15Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > I see this all the time, near housing developments where students live. My other question would be, who gets them down again? Two usually rational people told me that is a signal there is drug-dealing nearby. They told me it was a secret code to customers. Yes, I asked them why the police couldn’t see the shoes too. No answer on that. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/93 "2005-09-17T00:28:07Z")
::knock, knock:: Hi, got any weed? Oh, never mind, you have shoes on. ::knock, knock:: Hi, got any… ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/94 "2005-09-17T05:33:43Z")
Not sure if this really counts, but until I read it on this very board about three years ago, I never noticed that there is no period after the “Dr” in “Dr Pepper.” ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/95 "2005-09-17T06:24:46Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Shoes hanging from power lines. > > Who puts them up there? Low Men 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/96 "2005-09-17T06:37:31Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Two usually rational people told me that is a signal there is drug-dealing nearby. They told me it was a secret code to customers. Yes, I asked them why the police couldn’t see the shoes too. No answer on that. I’ve seen a few hanging from power lines over a 10-lane freeway. I have no idea where the dealers would do their business… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/97 "2005-09-17T11:28:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Wow. > > Lost gloves. > > Nobody actually told me - I noticed for myself - but after I noticed, I can’t fail but see them everywhere I go. Hey, are you the one who wrote in to Cecil telling him you used to collect shoes, and now collected gloves? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/98 "2005-09-17T17:24:11Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > These little tiny lizards that, apparently, are all over Santa Fe. I never really noticed them until I nearly stepped on one last week. I now have not walked across campus without seeing at least one. Those bluish-greenish ones that if you grab the tail, it falls off? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/99 "2005-09-17T18:42:42Z")
Since arguing online (been doing it for years) I cant watch TV talking heads debate because they’re so sloppy. I sit there and go, “Argument to authority, idiot!” “Excluded middle, moron!” “Strawman, stupid!” Actually, what’s even more common is a total failure to address their opponents’ argument. It’s not so much an argument as an extended series of non-sequiters. I suspect they argue that way because they are used to arguing in mass media one-way forums where they won’t get clobbered for such crap. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/100 "2005-09-18T01:20:54Z")
The weird thing is, I always remembered the FedEx logo as having an arrow in it somewhere - like on the end of the E or something. But I didn’t see the actual E until someone pointed it out. Do you think I could have picked it up subconsciously? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529.md?page=4)