The once luxurious Westward Ho Hotel now provides low-income housing to seniors, many of them living alone. I often take my tutorial students to shoot here, because it offers so many contrasting visual elements. In this case, the wall of its elevator lobby is decorated with a cheerful salute to the Thanksgiving holiday, yet it has been placed right next to a permanent sign designed to keep residents from “loitering.” The two signs clash within the frame of my image, which encloses them side by side above an empty wooden chair. The contrast between the signs is incongruous – the larger, more colorful Thanksgiving sign offers a pleasurable sentiment. The slightly askew “No Loitering” sign warns people not to stand or wait around the elevator lobby just to pass the time. The verb “loiter” also connotes improper or sinister motives, diluting much of the good will intended by the Thanksgiving salute. This wall speaks, but it seems to speak at cross-purposes.