I don't know if it's my immature sense of humor or my age, but I constantly come across absurd public signs. A few days ago I was walking in downtown Chicago from the LaSalle Street Station to Union Station and came across a bakery called "Wow Boa, Hot Asian Buns." Pun intended? I wonder.

Seriously, or seriously not, what else was I supposed to do but giggle and whip out my digital camera? Do the people that make these signs or pick these names do it on purpose because they find it humorous? Or are they serious?

Looking for signs via Google I found a McDonald's sign that read "Parking for Drive-Thru Service Only," a sign posted on a fence that read "No Signs on Fence" and a sign that read "Entrance Only Do Not Enter." Half the signs I saw on the different sites were funny because they made absolutely no sense or they contradicted themselves.

"Quiet Sick Zone." Does this actually work? In my opinion it only gives people more incentive to honk their horns and scream out their windows. I'm just guessing that it doesn't apply to airplanes because the sign is located right next to an airport. Can pilots quiet down those monsters as they zoom into quiet zones?

Upon reflection I can make sense of the McDonald's one. You know, that spot right in front of the drive-thru line when they mess up your order so they don't slow down the rest of the drive-thru. But what do the others mean?

My fascination actually began when my aunt gave me "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" about nine or 10 years ago. One of the sections in the book quoted religious billboards that had bloopers in them or sounded dirty. "Tuesday at 4 p.m. there will be an ice cream social. All ladies giving milk will please come early." And "Pastor is on vacation, massages can be given to church secretary."

Then in high school when I was preparing for a service trip to Appalachia I spotted a sign that read, "Do Not Molest the Trees and Shrubs," in the photo album of pictures from the previous trip.

Immediately I was obsessed and determined to find this sign in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains and take a picture with it. I was hoping there would be more than one to make my job easier, but apparently the sign was rare and I never found it. Also, I wanted to know how to molest a shrub. Would I be arrested if I touched one or grabbed a branch without consent?

In my opinion nothing beats the "Do Not Molest the Trees and Shrubs" sign but "TURN OUT 1/4 MILE TO ALLOW PISSING" is definitely a close second. Usually going to the bathroom in public is forbidden, but apparently encouraged some places. I assume it should read "passing," but I can't erase a rather unusual picture in my head of a social gathering where everyone is, well, pissing the time away.