Driving back this past weekend from Albuquerque I noticed something that I cannot let pass without some snarky comment.

I must have seen a half-dozen billboards advertising for the truck stop or convenience store at the next exit along Interstate 40 that boasted having “Clean Restrooms.”

I know what you’re thinking. Why does that even merit comment here? Well, maybe it might be no big thing to some folks, but I am struck by proprietors who feel the need to brag about doing something that ought to be a no-brainer. I also have plenty of experience walking into a truck stop restroom that isn’t fit for human use. So then cleanliness becomes a marketing tool for businesses to attract motorists off the highway.

Still, this kind of advertising reminds me of the political ads from politicians who say we should vote for them because, among other things, they have been “happily married” for a gazillion years to the same woman. I make that comment gender specific because the ads always represent male politicians – and we certainly know that a good many men in elected public office have been caught doing things with women other than their wives.

So, there you have it. Cleanliness and marital fidelity are things worthy of boasting.

Good grief.