"Fool's names like fool's faces are always seen in public places!" was a comment always forthcoming from my grandmother upon seeing any public place defiled with the "tag" of some graffiti "artist".
I, on the other hand, have rather enjoyed the other side of the on-going graffiti defacing war, the humor notes they invite from graffiti observers, like the sign found on a backstage wall at our local amateur theater building when the building was inspected and found unsafe: "Please don't write your name on the walls. If you're good enough, we'll remember you."
A similar request was penned on a freshly painted classroom wall at the local college: "This is a partition, not a petition. No signatures required."
One of my all-time favorite graffiti-stoppers, though, was posted above a urinal in the men's room at a country store in Texas. It read, "Please note: The same fingers that remove the cigarette butts from this urinal are the ones that fix our hamburgers," The urinal was butt free!
Good advice goes right along with some nice philosophy in the world of graffiti. For instance, this appeared on the wall of a café in Austin, Tx: "Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once." Pretty impressive thoughts to come out of a sojurn in a toilet!
Another worldly bit I have long remembered, but forgotten the source, is "Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?"
Sometimes bulletin board notices end up as second-hand humorous graffiti. "Will the thief who stole my jacket please return it?" was one such notice. Then it was addended the next day with "I found your jacket and intended to return it. But I don't like being called a thief! So I gave it to the Salvation Army." Cause and effect are not always in sync!
A similarly unexpected rejoinder was noted in an industrial building corridor filled with colorful posters bearing slogans intended to inspire employees. Under the exhortation "You Can - If You Will!" someone had amended, "You're Canned If You Won't!"
Office copy machines, I've noted, usually have an often necessary sign on them stating something like, "For problems, call extension 233". Just as often, the office wit will have added a comment. One I saw, for-example, read, 'No thanks - I have plenty of my own!" A lot of us recognize the feeling behind that!
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