# Silly things you've seen in public **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607 "2014-08-01T21:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/41 "2014-08-03T23:16:30Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Why is that silly? It’s silly because rather than threatening to prosecute people who dump trash there illegally, it threatens to prosecute the trash itself. Either that, or it implies that anyone who hangs around there is trash, and that only school trash will be tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/42 "2014-08-03T23:46:20Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I once saw a school’s sprinklers working–in the pouring rain! > A business named “CERTIFIED CHECK CASHERS” had signs in the windows, reading > “NO CHECKS CASHED.” > Seen anything just as silly? Ft Lauderdale bank on the drivein ATM which had a sign “No walk ups all persons must be in a vehicle to use this ATM” and there was braille on the screen of the machine! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/43 "2014-08-03T23:50:58Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Ft Lauderdale bank on the drivein ATM which had a sign “No walk ups all persons must be in a vehicle to use this ATM” and there was braille on the screen of the machine! Blind people _can_ ride in cars, you know. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/44 "2014-08-03T23:57:36Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Why is that silly? I’ve seen “No Dumping” signs by business dumpsters all over the place. The dumpsters are there for a specific group, not for everybody in the neighborhood. > > Back To The OP > > The dumpsters in my apartment complex have the address printed on them. First, I don’t see anybody stealing a dumpster that is at least 5’ x 5’ x 5’ . Second, if somebody did manage, it wouldn’t be hard to remove the address or paint over it. Ain’t sure about dumpsters, but I was in the portable toilet business for decades and every once n a while one of those got stolen, and When we bought out a competitor as we went thru his inventory we had bought back 5 of our stolen toilets. We also found one out on a lake in the dead of winter being used as an ice house with our name still on the side. I drove out and loaded it up and took it back, put a new floor in it and sent it back out on rental ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/45 "2014-08-04T00:05:02Z")
Cholesterol-free! on a sack of potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/46 "2014-08-04T00:05:42Z")
I withdraw my claim of silliness. Apparently, people steal dumpsters. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/47 "2014-08-04T00:07:08Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > Back in the early 1990s I flew down to South Padre Island, to the new airport in Harlingen, Texas. At that time they only had a single gate. When I returned to the airport to fly home, I was sitting in the waiting area and heard this formal announcement: “Now arriving at Gate One…” > > They could have just said, “The plane is here”. 😃 They did the same thing at the Pyongyang airport in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/48 "2014-08-04T02:12:43Z")
I once saw a guy walking around downtown Pittsburgh wearing a bikini. > [@staili](#): > > For me, it’s the warning label on peanut butter that says, “CONTAINS: PEANUTS.” I know why it’s there, but that just has me shaking my head every time I see it. Yeah, that’s my favorite. It’s like, I sure as hell hope so! That’s why I bought it! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/49 "2014-08-04T02:42:47Z")
This guy: [Norristown Dancer - YouTube](http://youtu.be/VoxyRniV9fU) I used to drive by that corner every morning on the way to work and he was nearly always there, with his headphones on, dancing, and waving to traffic. He was always on that corner, but he would sometimes be facing Markley Street and sometimes Main. That was about a year and a half ago. I have no idea if he’s still doing it since I changed jobs and no longer drive by there. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/50 "2014-08-04T03:05:43Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This guy: [http://youtu.be/VoxyRniV9fU](http://youtu.be/VoxyRniV9fU) > I used to drive by that corner every morning on the way to work and he was nearly always there, with his headphones on, dancing, and waving to traffic. He was always on that corner, but he would sometimes be facing Markley Street and sometimes Main. That was about a year and a half ago. I have no idea if he’s still doing it since I changed jobs and no longer drive by there. Here’s another of the same guy, this time facing Markley Street: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAvjHu0gwY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAvjHu0gwY) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/51 "2014-08-04T03:13:34Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Here’s another of the same guy, this time facing Markley Street: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAvjHu0gwY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAvjHu0gwY) Actually he’s facing Markley in both. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/52 "2014-08-04T04:00:57Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Either that, or it implies that anyone who hangs around there is trash, and that only school trash will be tolerated. That was my take on it. I envisioned a scene in which a bunch of scummy-looking teenagers are hanging out smoking cigarettes, when a truant officer comes up to them and says, “Hey! You kids can’t hang out here, get lost!” “But we go to school here!” “Oh. In that case, carry on.” ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/53 "2014-08-04T04:31:30Z")
There’s a tobacconist near here. It has several big signs above the door and windows saying So-and-So Tobacco, whatever the name is, professionally painted and quite large. It also has a little A4-size B&W laser printed Word document stuck in one window that says “We Sell Tobacco”. I sometimes wonder what had to go wrong in order for the owner to think 96 point Arial was the solution. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/54 "2014-08-04T05:11:46Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I withdraw my claim of silliness. Apparently, people steal dumpsters. I’m going to stay far away from anyone who can do that–I picture a muscleman picking up a dumpster and walking off with it! :eek: In the county clerk’s office there are small wooden trays with signs, “DO NOT TEAR IN HALF.” Anyone who can tear a wooden tray in half is someone to avoid! ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/55 "2014-08-04T05:45:53Z")
In the restroom at the laundromat I used to frequent there used to be a hand-written sign that said, “Do not put anything down the toilet.” Eventually, they upgraded to a professional looking plastic sign with engraved white letters. It said, “Do not put anything down the toilet other than tiny pieces of paper.” That’s an improvement, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/56 "2014-08-04T06:05:28Z")
One year, in our oceanfront room in Seaside Oregon, we would sit at the window and watch people walk by on the Promenade (like a boardwalk, I guess, but all concrete). When we heard the _click, click, click_ in the distance, we knew who it was: that guy with the cane, which he was using to navigate, because, apparently, he was blind. What was perplexing was the rather nice-looking SLR camera hanging upon his chest. Never did see him use it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/57 "2014-08-04T06:15:37Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I’m going to stay far away from anyone who can do that–I picture a muscleman picking up a dumpster and walking off with it! :eek: > In the county clerk’s office there are small wooden trays with signs, “DO NOT TEAR IN HALF.” Anyone who can tear a wooden tray in half is someone to avoid! When I was with Oakleaf Waste Management I chatted on the phone with a manager for a drugstore location in the US Southwest as he described a single guy with a chevy S-10 pickup singlehandedly managing to load a [bale](http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/vertical_baler/images/vertical_baler_cardboard.jpg) of cardboard onto his truck. [at the time it was as I recall about $100US per ton] Took the guy half an hour, and the guy should have properly called the cops, but he figured if he could get it onto his truck he deserved it. [he apparently skid it up a pair of boards set as a ramp with some sort of jury-rigged winch system. Very enterprising.] [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/58 "2014-08-04T07:22:20Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > There’s a tobacconist near here. It has several big signs above the door and windows saying So-and-So Tobacco, whatever the name is, professionally painted and quite large. > > It also has a little A4-size B&W laser printed Word document stuck in one window that says “We Sell Tobacco”. I sometimes wonder what had to go wrong in order for the owner to think 96 point Arial was the solution. But the newly printed paper stuck to the window shows its a recent statement…The writing on the windows or up above may be archaic… Well you see there are many people who have limited vision… not totally blind… not totally good… Maybe nothing went wrong at all, perhaps o the shopkeeper may wish to advise they sell the product tobacco ,and only cigarettes and cigars… well what can go wrong is that they might not be allowed to display the product. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/59 "2014-08-04T10:43:52Z")
Maybe there’s some poorly thought out regulation that says that sellers of tobacco must state that they do so in a window. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607/60 "2014-08-04T12:13:16Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Ft Lauderdale bank on the drivein ATM which had a sign “No walk ups all persons must be in a vehicle to use this ATM” and there was braille on the screen of the machine! That’s not silly. “Silly” is owning an ATM factory, and having two sets of machines (or machine setups) for making faceplates, one for drive throughs, one for walk-ups. ETA: same thing with restroom signs, actually. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-things-youve-seen-in-public/694607.md?page=4)