Ah yes. Private contractors at work:

[Are_grits_groceries]

@Earth_Pics

Ha!

[unblock]

1. fortunately, the profit motive prevents this sort of thing from happening. ever.

[wandy]

2. Thank you for that! nt

[Dawson Leery]

3. Ayn Rand.

[TrogL]

4. That's an oldie. The pillars are detachable.

[SwissTony]

5. I've seen this photo before.

It purportedly comes from Holland. The blue signs look like the Dutch style but I can't read them due to pixelation. The workers were originally described as council workers and I'd expect that to be true - that sort of work would be carried out by the council (I live in Holland).

Those poles come in two sorts. One is a solid, one-piece structure. The other has a removable top - you just need the right key. I'd say the bottom right is certainly removable and possibly the bottom left. The workers would simply remove the pole(s) and reverse out.

And that bar doesn't look much like a bar.

[Brickbat]

6. People will believe anything.

[sharp_stick]

7. These are a couple of my favorites

The raccoon is real not sure about the other one