Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Keep It Complicated
There is a lovely little park a few blocks from my office, and occasionally (particularly when The Guyfriend is out on vacation and hence unavailable for the lunchtime walk to Starbuck's) I'll go over there and read during lunch. This week I noticed a new sign has been posted alongside the sidewalk, just inside one of the entrances.
It has a silhouette drawing of a man, woman and dog. The man and woman appear to have just walked off the set of Hello Dolly after filming the Sunday Clothes scene. He's clearly wearing a suit, she's clearly wearing a dress, and they both are wearing dressy hats. She is holding on to the crook of his left arm, and he's got the dog's leash (which is affixed to the dog's collar) in his right. In her left hand, she's holding up what appears to be a long-handled pooper scooper.
The text: "All dogs must be restrained on a leash, and the accompanying owners must carry implements for removing the dog feces."
How long do you think it took the City of Newton to come up with this clever little sign? Do they think the silhouette accurately represents the patrons of that particular park? Or did they think that's how the dog walkers would like to picture themselves? Perhaps the committee in charge of dog issues were hoping to inspire the citizens to dress up for walks in the park, and to once more adhere to predetermined gender roles? Is "Scoop the Poop" too vulgar to display on a public sign? How about "Leash and clean up after your dog?" That would about sum it up. I'm surprised they didn't specify that in addition to carrying the implements, they must also use them in the case of fresh feces deposits.
Oh well, at least it was entertaining.
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It has a silhouette drawing of a man, woman and dog. The man and woman appear to have just walked off the set of Hello Dolly after filming the Sunday Clothes scene. He's clearly wearing a suit, she's clearly wearing a dress, and they both are wearing dressy hats. She is holding on to the crook of his left arm, and he's got the dog's leash (which is affixed to the dog's collar) in his right. In her left hand, she's holding up what appears to be a long-handled pooper scooper.
The text: "All dogs must be restrained on a leash, and the accompanying owners must carry implements for removing the dog feces."
How long do you think it took the City of Newton to come up with this clever little sign? Do they think the silhouette accurately represents the patrons of that particular park? Or did they think that's how the dog walkers would like to picture themselves? Perhaps the committee in charge of dog issues were hoping to inspire the citizens to dress up for walks in the park, and to once more adhere to predetermined gender roles? Is "Scoop the Poop" too vulgar to display on a public sign? How about "Leash and clean up after your dog?" That would about sum it up. I'm surprised they didn't specify that in addition to carrying the implements, they must also use them in the case of fresh feces deposits.
Oh well, at least it was entertaining.
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Posted by Rogueslayer at 2:16 PM 
