It&8217;s amazing what people argue themselves blue in the face over.

Or in this case, brown.

The city installed rustic street lamps along East Main Street. Critics of the city say the rusty color lacks appeal.

The color is fine. The street lamps look nice. Many people like them. People who don&8217;t like them speak out more than people who like them.

Chalk this issue up in the same category as the fountains. People spoke out against the Fountain Lake fountains being a waste of tax dollars, but you can bet most Albert Lea residents like them.

If we want to be picky, it&8217;s not the lamps or their color, it&8217;s the banners. The banners could have a rendering, like in most cities, rather than a photograph.

But in the scheme of things, this is small peanuts. For goodness sake, things must be pretty good around Albert Lea when the color of street lamps has people in a tizzy.

Need a better issue? Here&8217;s one:

The city needs better signage for motorists leaving Interstate 35 at Exit 11 and Exit 12. Who hasn&8217;t fielded questions from travelers wondering where downtown is or whether they missed the freeway commerce?

If you haven&8217;t, go to the Kwik Trip at Garfield Avenue and Main Street on a Friday.

The prime instance of head-scratching is when drivers going south on I-35 enter Albert Lea on Exit 12. They don&8217;t know about the truck stops and sometimes they fail to notice Wal-Mart or the strip malls near it. They finally see choices on East Main Street, which are good, but still some of them wonder if there aren&8217;t more choices for a city at the crossroads of two interstates. There are, but the drivers simply drove a way that doesn&8217;t expose them to the commerce.

Signs at various places near Exit 11 and Exit 12 could have simple arrows with terms such as &8220;downtown,&8221; &8220;truck stops,&8221; and &8220;shopping.&8221;

Let&8217;s help our visitors get to where they want to go.