Locks O' Love?

A couple of weeks ago I ran across one of those unusual-but-not-quite-weird articles on reddit I so love: For decades now a custom has slowly been creeping across the world whereby loving, romantic, and sometimes superstitious couples have decided to write messages on padlocks and attach them to certain landmarks in specific areas.

"Well, that's kinda cool," I thought. "I wonder if that's caught on here?"

And then it struck me-- on one of my evening walks I was wandering across the Monument Avenue bridge over I-195 when I noticed a padlock hooked to the chain link fence:

I didn't think too much about it at the time; it was just one of those minor mysteries like gym shoes tossed across telephone lines you see every-damn-where, but after reading about these Love Padlocks I figured I'd check things out a little more carefully after the Countdown to Halloween madness had died down.

Last night that's exactly what I did and, sure enough, the padlock was still there, no initials or inscriptions, only now it had been joined by three others. And not just that; two of the padlocks were located near the top of the chain link, which meant someone had to cross to the middle of the bridge, climb the guard rail, and reach way, way high over his/her head to place it there.

Some reddit comments I found amusing here...

"Now that reddit finds out about them, there will be a surge of padlock sales and public padlocking abound. Considering most people in reddit have girlfriend. (virtual or otherwise)."

"Darling.. my love for you is like a padlock-- cold and mechanical. Let us rejoice!"

"It's all a Big Lock Industry ploy. They get you buying the locks, littering with the locks, and then lock contractors cut the locks off."
"It's a conspiracy, I tell you!"

I'll be watching with interest!