Last night on my way home I stopped for a break at the Carlsruhe Roadhouse. There is a sign on the outside of the toilets that reads “These are not public toilets. They are for customers only”.
If I look at this in terms of the ontological distinctions around language, I would suggest the sign is meant to be a declaration. Yet as a declaration it is missing one important criteria —Authority. As a member of the public I simply don’t grant them the authority to bar me from using their toilets with a simple sign. Although I did intend to buy some food (and did) other’s won’t and if they need to go will go.
This may seem a trivial example but it would explain to the owner’s of the Roadhouse why people are ignoring their sign and perhaps suggest alternative ways of restricting use if that is indeed necessary.