DON'T SPIT ON THE WALLS.

This is the sign we were confronted with on a recent walk around the river in Melbourne.

No shit Sherlock. Thanks for the tip.

But it got me thinking. Sometimes life really is as straightforward as that, and if only we paid more attention to these little signs maybe life would be just that little bit easier.

Things like:

NO PARKING and TOWAWAY signs. Parking attendants don’t have senses of humour people. And this is true anywhere in the world. Trust me, I’ve done the research.

DON’T SPIT ON THE WALLS. This is the sign that was hanging in the social security office in NYC which I stared at for 3 hours while I waited to be served. Sound advice don’t you think?

PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF OTHER PEOPLE’S CEREMONIES

This was posted in City Hall where Gregory and I went to get our marriage licence in NYC. We did consider getting hitched in their chapel, complete with salmon coloured walls and fake flowers adorning a plastic archway, but we decided the forty people who’d travelled from Australia might not appreciate that.

Again though, it’s handy information. And could be just as valuable in an edited version:

PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF OTHER PEOPLE.

My favourite though was this one, which I passed while out running in the Golden Gate park in San Francisco.

Unfortunately for the Japanese a few years ago, it was actually something they could have done with, and I certainly don't mean to make light of their terrible circumstance, but when I came across this sign, that disastrous event hadn’t occurred yet.

I saw it at a stage when Gregory and I were about to move back to Australia, a country I hadn’t lived in for 8 years, a country he had never lived in, a country I had no professional performing career in, a country he had no career in whatsoever. Hoping to both get jobs in our chosen fields, to make a baby (never having tried to make a baby before), to grow a healthy one, once we conceived it, to be able to afford rent in Sydney, to make new friends and reconnect with old.

Suddenly I realised mini Tsunamis hit your whole life long.

Sometimes yes, you’ll need an evacuation route, other times you just need an excellent survival plan.

The true test is knowing when to run, when to hide and when to stay the course.

It seems that opening a restaurant is indeed like facing a mini-Tsunami. But with proper planning and preparation and a big set of balls, I reckon we’ll be able to stay the course.

Happy Wednesday people, nice day for ducks huh?