Green, Yellow, Red

[vakkotaur]

Today's Unshelved comic points out how a color coded system like that of traffic lights can be interpreted as something other than intended. It reminded me of a similar system that the UW-Platteville food services tried. There, they had green for low fat items, yellow for not so low fat items, and red for the high fat items. The idea was that the red-coded items would be available, but a person would be informed of what was what (like they didn't already know) and could then decide for himself.

But think of what those colors mean in a traffic light. Here's how the system really worked:

Green: Keep going, this stuff is nasty.
Yellow: Slow down, this stuff might be worth trying.
Red: Stop and get some of this stuff.

Naturally, those who had to push the system did not like being told this information. "That's not what it means!" But it was how it was used, no matter the intention.