Managing Public Manners

[madrobins]

We have a small patch of greensward opposite our house (the grass and trees are what separate us from a thoroughfare that leads into a highway, and are much appreciated) where we take Emily for her squeeze business (as in: "Has the dog been squeezed?" "Well, she peed, but didn't poop."). We are not the only ones who use this area that way, nor are we the only ones who clean up after the squeezings. There are, however, a few people who proudly don't. This drives me and the family, who are pretty punctillious about clean up, up a wall. I've been thinking of making a sign that can be placed right by offending piles, which would say "The Maid Called In Sick. Please Clean Up After Your Dog." But I'm not sure whether that would solve things or make the offenders more intransigent.