No pee zone. Thank you.

On Saturday we walked up to the catch the gay pride parade. I must say that compared to the one other time I've gone, it was quite a let down. What I remembered were extravagant floats with thumping sound systems and boisterous, half-naked people of all preferences schooling the crowd on how to properly kick off an afternoon. What I saw were trucks barely covered with scribbled-on, hastily attached cardboard and people with megaphones shouting garbled chants. Of course, we didn't stay for the whole thing; perhaps the good floats had already passed. But from what I saw, I'd give it a C+ on level of entertainment.

What I did find entertaining was a little white sign with black lettering placed neatly on the manicured lawn of an art-deco apartment building. It said: "No pee zone. Thank you."

On a normal day, I would have assumed this was directed at dog owners. On that day, I wasn't totally sure. Regardless, I was struck by the politeness of the sign. I've seen other signs meant to protect precious green grass from death by urination, but they took a much different approach:

• "Keep the pee in the park."
• "My lawn is not your dog's toilet."
• "Pick up your dog crap. I'm watching from the house." (Seriously!)

By comparison, I was struck by this delightfully pleasant declaration. There was just one problem: the text was only on one side. Walking away, we passed by a hairy retriever, and on a hunch, I turned around in time to see him taking a leak just inches from the blank white sign.

Next time, zone wisely.