Bulletin boards host a smorgasbord of advertisements
Most people blow right past them. Rushing to buy groceries, they rarely stop to read the blurbs.
The community bulletin boards that hang between the gumball machines and shopping carts go unnoticed by many.
They're at supermarkets, coffee shops, libraries and bagel hot spots. Churches and schools post them too. Tacked, stapled and taped, the quiet advertising whispers at potential consumers.
The free ad space attracts the predictable services. Plumbers and tuck pointers. Massage therapists and peddlers of nutritional supplements. Grainy photos of sad-faced dogs posted by animal shelters. "Adopt a friend for life," they say.
Some ads are legit. Others offer promises as hollow as a campaign speech. "Buy $50,000 worth of life insurance for just $1," claims the post. A closer look at the asterisk and you'll discover the dollar pays the first month after which "rates will be adjusted."
Did you gain weight and overspend on holiday gifts? No problem. "Lose up to 17 pounds and earn $400 in the next 30 days," claims another ad.
Invitations to get your emotional and spiritual house in order are there too.
Support groups for "Mothers in Transition" and "Depressed Anonymous" meet weekly. Courses in "Conversational Evangelism," and "Buddhist Meditation Class … Eight Steps to Happiness," appeal to the heavenly minded.
Some are sad. Others desperate.
A three-paragraph essay pleading to find a missing gray tabby cat hangs at a convenience store. A bulletin from the Plainfield Police Department is at Starbucks. "MISSING PERSON … Lisa Ruttenberg-Stebic. Call with information."
Are you socially conscious or politically active?
The feminist discussion group, "Reclaiming Eve" meets Wednesdays at noon. A guy named Mark is forming an "Animal Rights Club" at a local school.
If your interests are out-of-this-world, the Lake County Astronomical Society invites you to view a total lunar eclipse on Feb. 20. It starts at 9:01 p.m. and ends at 9:51 p.m. Don't be late. You'll miss it.
And among the exaggerated, overstated and impractical, some guys are just trying to make a living.
A simple note, complete with tear-off phone numbers, taped near the door at the coin laundry in Mundelein.
"Pablo's Construction Company. Hard Working and Honest. Call me."