Signs of Life
I love funny signs.
I stopped to photograph this sign in Clarkston, Ga. on Saturday because I was intrigued and amused by the name Angkor Auto Repair. I wonder what the sign means?
I know LITERALLY what it means. Angkor was the capital of the defunct Khmer Empire (modern day Cambodia) and is the location of the enormous Angkor Wat temple.
But what does the sign mean? Are the shop’s owners expressing pride in their hometown? Did they name it that to lure the area’s Cambodian car owners? Is Angkor known in Cambodia for its cars or car repair? Do the owners think that Americans (or for that matter, all the African immigrants in Clarkston) know or care what Angkor is?
My favorite possibility to consider is that it’s the Cambodian version of American marketing non sequiturs like Miami Subs Grill or European Dry Cleaning.
After I turned the car around to take the picture of the sign, I noticed the Dubai First Auto Sales bit of the sign. It made me think all the same types of things I thought about Angkor Auto Sales. Dubai First? Do people from fantastically wealthy Gulf Emirate Dubai buy used Corollas from Clarkston?
But mostly, the signs just brightened my mood. I like living in a country where Angkor Auto Repair and Dubai First Auto Sales can share a sign.
They probably just wanted to be near the top in the phone book. Why do you think there are so many businesses named “Aardvark”?
My favorite shopping center on Buford Highway — I think it’s called Northwoods Plaza — has a Chinese restaurant, a zapateria (shoe store), and a gun shop. In a row.
Moreover, I first noticed this in 2000. And they’re all still there.
I used to live in Tucker which is right next to Clarkston and there is a very large Cambodian population there. Maybe that has something to do with it?
As for Dubai, I got nothin :)
Husband and I have a friend who lives down the street from this sign – it pretty much sums up Clarkston, and I agree that it’s pretty darn cool.