Saratoga Bus Stop Graffiti Andrea Piercy

Taken: 3/23/04

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CHUCK WOOD iS A PR[I]CK

• Found scratched into the Congress Park bus stop in Saratoga Springs, NY. On a painted metal strip about 11/2 inches wide along the back inner wall of the bus stop, just above a bench.
• Author unknown; likely someone making use of Saratoga Springs buses, perhaps a teenager or young adult
• The intended audience is likely friends of the author or acquaintances of Chuck Wood who would also use the bus stop
• There is no imagery or iconography associated with the graffito, although the “A” is elaborated, perhaps as a result of a mistake in etching
• Analyzing this graffito required careful observation, since the text was scratched into the surface unevenly and some of the letters were distorted (such as the “A”) or incomplete (such as the second “O” in “WOOD”). The “I” in “PRICK” was missing or too lightly scratched to be noticeable, requiring me to reconstruct the word based on my knowledge of English slang. Utilizing that knowledge I was also able to guess at the age of the author, since “prick” is most often used as an insult by teenagers or younger adults. The provenance of the etching may also be (tentatively) used to confirm this age, since teenagers and young adults often take advantage of public transportation at that bus stop. The location of the graffito, on the window support behind a bench, is not highly visible to observers, and many other graffiti surround this one, indicating that this particular graffito was probably written after those that take up more visible, and less awkward, locations.
• These methods reveal that the graffito is an insult, but one meant to be understood by a select audience (i.e. those who know Chuck Wood). Because of that, it does not need to be very visible, nor very effective in convincing a general audience that Chuck Wood is, indeed, a prick.