public works

I live in a pretty nice neighborhood, in a pretty nice town, in a county with high taxes. It's pretty expensive to live here, no downtown Manhattan or San Francisco, to be sure, but still pretty high. Last spring during the economic meltdown the house next door actually sold for significantly higher than the asking price, even.

In general I would say that it is well represented in the quality of public works. The roads suck now, but this last winter is the true culprit and areas of improvement are constantly popping up.

However at the end of my street is this oddity.

You can just make out the lovely yellow streamers.

This issue laden scenario showed up quite some time ago, perhaps a month or more ago, and has changed little since then. Bhy the time I noyiced it someone had already "protected us" by hanging the yellow prophylactics on it, conveniently making it more accessible to children who couldn't previously reach it.

At the time I first saw it, I assumed the tape had come from a concerned citizen. It was put on poorly, and in uneven lengths. The dangling the wire was out of the way, relatively speaking, over a roundabout that sees only moderate use. There were no workers to be seen, and no cones or safety equipment at all. None of this bothered me at the time, because who gives a shit, really? I figured it would be dealt with after some bitchy phone calls from some concerned parents.

Now several weeks, at least, later it's still there but has picked up a new feature.


That's awesome, passing the buck, then letting everyone know you did so they stop calling. I'm not sure what's funnier, the fact that they politely asked people to stop bugging them, or the fact that they have a printed label sticker for this very purpose.