I've been busted.

The private golf course which I was using as a shortcut during my morning runs with my dog last week posted a No Trespassing sign intended for me. There is only one sign posted on the entire course at exactly the place where I routinely enter, and it says "No Trespassing. No Dogs. No Joggers."

It is so specific to me that they may as well have just posted a picture of me and my dog with a line through it.

No Nancy. No Sydney: I believe that's the point the sign is trying to make.

For about 10 years, I have been a regular jogger in the rural neighborhood where I live. Three times a week or so, I run on the roads which loop about three and a half miles to and from my house on a route that circles the perimeter of the golf course.

This summer, since I acquired a running "buddy," our 9-month-old Australia shepherd-spaniel mix, Sydney, I have been shortcutting along the back edge of the golf course for safety reasons. The shortcut avoids the one section of my road that has some traffic.

I have tried to be respectful of the course, taking care that Sydney doesn't leave any deposits behind and avoiding stepping onto the grounds if I saw golfers in carts. But, I admit the past few weeks I have encountered along with the grounds crew some early golfers trying to beat the heat with a 7 a.m. game. Apparently, they didn't want to share space with a woman and her dog, no matter how careful I tried to be.

I don't mind taking the long way around, and I understand the course is private property and I should have stayed off altogether. But the sign is really unnecessary. A word or two from anyone working there asking me to stick to the road would have been sufficient. Now, a bold "No ... No ... No" blots the otherwise exquisitely groomed and scenic grounds of the course. There is really no need for it.

Which brings me to SoundOff.

This popular newspaper forum has become a place for people to complain about their neighbor instead of just going next door and saying what's bothering them.

Barking dogs, loud music, parked cars -- even the color of paint on someone's fence -- are noted to us, the newspaper, and to our readers, but never to the person who could actually do something about it.

Have we become so afraid to talk to people, to approach them with a simple request or to engage in polite conversation that we have to resort to anonymous phone messages to newspapers and signs on sticks to make a point?

A few years ago, a neighbor had an issue with our family and the property line of our home. At the time, we hired an attorney to help us understand our legal rights and resolve the dispute. We met with him; he researched the issue, and offered us his best legal advice: "Go next door and talk to them," he said. "I've found over the years that nothing works better."

Although uncertain about how I would be received, I tried it. We talked, found a way to get past our differences, and found a way to deal with our boundary line issue. Not only was the problem solved, but over time, that discussion opened the door to rediscover old friendships and make new ones.

We paid our lawyer more money than we could easily afford at the time, but in the end his advice was worth every penny.

Just go talk to people face to face. You can save the cost of a sign and the trouble of sounding off.