The signboard above was posted on Twitter recently and piqued the interest of thousands with its unusual presentations. Japan has a history of construction warning signs that might seem odd in other countries, with roly-poly penguins notifying us of gas line maintenance or a cuddly panda stopping us from falling into an open manhole.

This one, however, has even Japanese people scratching their heads. At first glance the sign appears to have a frisky looking construction worker telling you about his project with a saucy wink. However, the more one looks at this image, the deeper the rabbit hole goes.

The caption on the sign is fairly standard and reads: “We apologize for the inconvenience this in-progress construction may cause. Thank you for your cooperation.”

However, as the cartoon worker is issuing this apology he’s winking and lifting his shoulder as if to say, “Now, if you’ll excuse me I gotta get back to laying some pipe!” and then clicking his tongue a couple of times.

But wait a minute now. This worker’s hair is obscured by the hard-hat and the body is hard to make out with those baggy work clothes. However, the eyelashes seem quite long, and with that upturned nose… Could it be this “he” is a “she?”

If so, that still doesn’t excuse her behavior. As a young man I’m tired of getting leered and wolf-whistled at by every female construction worker I pass by like I’m some piece of meat on display. It’s a social problem that really shouldn’t be propagated by notice boards.

Then again, hang on a second. What’s up with those hands? Their left hand appears to have a big toe where the index finger should be, and I tried for a good five minutes to try to recreate the positioning of the right hand to no avail. Unless it’s actually that he’s gripping some kind of misshapen potato…

This worker isn’t flirting with us at all. They’re just disfigured either from birth or some accident on the job site! That right eye is more than likely permanently shut, however we can see this trooper is still maintaining an upbeat attitude and serving as a valued member of society by warning residents and pedestrians of construction in progress.

And so, just like that this warning sign had left me emotionally vulnerable with all my prejudices and biases laid bare for some much-needed self-reflection and improvement. Of course, I’m also left very aware of the construction work that is being done nearby.

That’s one heck of a sign!

Source: Twitter via Aol News (Japanese)