Pool Season

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It's going to be pool season soon. The kids can hardly wait to try out their new suits; the younger ones are looking forward to swim lessons, and the older ones will be working there.  But what kind of pool are we talking about?  The sign on the pool entrance (when the pool is closed) reads:

                                        DANGER POOLS
                                               CLOSED

That's it- no punctuation at all.  My kingdom for some punctuation!  So, we are forced to read this a few different ways. The first problem is the word 'danger'.  What exactly is a 'danger pool'?  We could be talking about pools that pose a danger or are full of danger. But the word 'danger' is a noun, and we all know that nouns can't modify other nouns. To be grammatically correct, the word 'dangerous' should be used.  But then, no one in their right mind would go to the pool.  The second problem is the word 'pools'.  In cases where there actually is more than one pool, this is fine, but in most cases there is just one pool. Without that apostrophe (not to mention a verb), we must ask: What did the pools close? (Perhaps we should also ask why our tax dollars were involved in a crime against grammar.) I could simply correct this error with a black Sharpie, but that would get me in all sorts of trouble.  In a confusing and stressful world, punctuation adds clarity and calm to our lives, doesn't it?

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