Signs of Spring

As certain as the daffodils’ blossoming in February is the flourishing of these vinyl “flowers.”

I "picked" this pair earlier in the week. They were “growing” illegally in the public right-of-way on Bertha Boulevard not far from the I-5 on-ramp. Maximum visibility, not sunlight, caused them to “sprout” where they did.

Other invasives are soon to follow. If past seasons are any indication, foremost among them will be the 1-800-GOTJUNK and JOBDANGO blossoms. Feel free to pick those too. I will.

I called the prominent number on the College Works sign. (Get the pun? College Works. There are others too, like “A Higher Degree of Painting.”)

“The company, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is simply a subsidiary of a larger company, National Services Group, based in Annapolis Maryland. The voice at the other end was “Steve.” He was in Irving, California. Of course I was calling about this little illegal sign infestation in Hillsdale, in Portland, in Oregon, in the Northwest.

It’s a complex world out there.

Steve apologized on behalf of College Works in Ann Arbor, but the problem, he said, was with student “business associates” who are unaware of the law in Oregon.

“We seem to be getting more calls like yours this year. I’ll pass this along.”

I suggested that he pass it directly to the executive suite. College Works’ top management, not student underlings, has ordered these signs made (in the fine print are references to business license numbers in several states.) Putting up the signs in the public right-of-way is clearly a directive from the top.

The problem begins with people who don’t care about places called neighborhoods, unless the neighborhoods happen to be their own.

We need to make them care about our neighborhoods as much as they care about their own — assuming, of course, that they do care about their own neighborhoods.

Come to think of it, they likely live in some gated, impenetrable cluster of “estates.”

Therein may lie the problem. . . .