Laramie sprays a curb and the bike racks, covers it with gray paint, makes it worse, then pressure-washes the fix. City: our bad.

Here's a three-act play from Laramie, Wyoming. Act One: a city worker sprays a downtown curb yellow and, according to Cowboy State Daily, the overspray also hits bicycles, a sewer grate and bike racks several feet from the curb. Act Two: the city tries to cover the overspray with gray paint to match the concrete. In the city's own words, "Unfortunately, this made the affected areas look worse." Act Three: crews come back with pressure washers to blast off the gray paint and the yellow hiding under it. Curtain. Now, give Laramie credit. It didn't hide behind a spokesman. It posted a public apology saying the work "does not reflect the quality of work we expect from Public Works" and promised to review training, equipment use and supervision. One resident pointed out the town is effectively paying for the same job three times, and that's the part nobody's laughing at. The lesson for the rest of us: measure twice, spray once, and never try to fix yellow with gray. Laramie gave us a lesson in paint and a lesson in owning your mistakes. We'll take both.