STOCKTON, Calif. – Drivers often see big, stenciled letters painted on the road approaching a speed bump.
One such sign along East Ninth Street in Stockton does its job in alerting drivers – but this one was spelled B-M-U-P.
“I double checked. I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ I stood on one side of it and made sure and said, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t spell it like that, you know?'” neighbor David Roots told KTXL. “And went back and on the other side and that’s when I came to the conclusion, ‘Man, they spelled it wrong.'”
The city of Stockton says contractors did some work on the street last year and re-stenciled the road markings but misspelled this particular one. City officials say the misspelling was missed on final inspections because crews don’t typically check spelling.
“I think it’s funny that they did all the ones over there and just got this one wrong, so I don’t know what was going on. I don’t know if they just weren’t thinking, maybe it was after lunch or something,” Roots said.
While some find it funny, others see it as a carelessness use of tax dollars by the city.
“‘I don’t give a damn,’ you know what I mean? They might as well just say that,” neighbor Sante Gayle said.
The misspelled marker had been on the street for three months before it was painted over on Thursday.
Roots said it didn’t bother him at all. For him, it was part of his neighborhood and he smiled every time he saw it.
“It makes our street unique,” he said. “Like the people that live here. That’s how I look at it.”