Shoulders

I am quite amazed to learn that in the US, shoulders are overrated. And I don't mean the cow's shoulders (which may as well be). I mean the shoulders of the road. There is a whole category of road signs relating to the shoulders. They are usually there; although I haven't quite experienced their utility, much to my relief. Yet, if there are any exceptions to this rule, the department of road-building sure makes a big deal out of it. They must literally be investigating the constitution of the shoulder (or lack thereof) and they do not leave any stone unturned to advertise about it at every few quarters of a mile until we pass them by (or don't).

I fail to understand this obsession. Narrow shoulder, rough shoulder, shoulder missing, extra wide shoulder, cold shoulder, shoulder may freeze, should may evaporate, and so on goes the signage. It is not as if one is going to stand on the shoulders of the road that the great workers of the past invented and progress much in the future. 

And when someone made a smart comment that he couldn't find neither arms nor head of the freeway, I had nothing but a shrug to offer.