Smiley Semantics

I posted this a couple of weeks ago and commented on how I found it a big unsettling.

Then this morning I think I twigged as to one of the reasons why I found it so odd. It’s this sign that I walk past every morning on the way to work:

Yes, it’s the other eye winking, but I’m not sure that has any relevance.

In smiley-speak a winking smiley, like this ;-), indicates that you’re joking, or being sarcastic, just generally that you shouldn’t take the point too seriously. In which case I’m not quite sure how to read either of these…