Jun. 22, 2007 - Yard Sales and Nanny Government
Okay. so what does a yard sale and the government have to do with each other? Until today I assumed nothing
I forced myself out of bed early this morning. I had been planning a yard sale for the past week so I could hopefully rid my home of some unwanted junk. I wanted to be cheerfully collecting dimes, quarters and dollars for my out grown clothing and useless nick-nacks by 8:00. My friend Valerie was bringing her stuff over today and friend Debbie is going to be joining us tomorrow. You see I have an ideal location to have a yard sale because my neighborhood is zoned both commericial and residential. Lots of the old house have been turned into small business' which generates a bit of traffic and the streets on either end are pretty busy throughfares. With simple signs at each end of the street lots of people notice the yard sale plus we can count on the other business' contributing to the number of shoppers. I do this every year and it helps to keep some of the clutter down in the house and make a little money at the same time. Well today at about 11:00 a City Fire truck (not a fire engine just a red pick up truck) pulls up to the curb with 2 guys in it. I thought they were looking for a bargin but then one of the guys motions for me to come to the curb. He hands me a business card with the title of city code enforcer on it and tells me I can't have a yard sale without a permit. That I have to go down to city hall and register for a permit and that the signs I put up at the end of my street are on city property and have to be taken down. That or he will shut me down. Shut me down? What does he think I'm selling? This is used clothing and books and old bedspreads for heavens sake. Why do I need to register for that. Now I know it's really not that big a deal and I promptly sent my son downtown to fill out the paper work and get a permit but it's the thought that counts. I should be able to hold a simple yard sale without having city code enforcers threatening to shut me down. I should be able to put up a sign about my yard sale at the end of my street, if that's city property oh well, I pay my taxes. How much of my tax money went to pay this guys salery so he can drive around and rid the city of middle age mommys selling * gasp * unwanted and abused stuffed animals. This is just another example of how invasive government has gotten, they seem to want to micro manage every aspect of our lives and force us to get permission to do things that ought to be up to us whether we do or not. Register for a yard sale?! Good Grief what will they think of next.
Comments
Jun. 23, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Tracy
I just find this kind of Government interference quite ugly. I am in Australia and the same kind of thing is happening, our society is free but they seem to be slowly taking this in silly regulations, laws contanstantly getting passed. We can't do a thing without having to fill in paper work, ridiculous!
This kind of thing brings the rebel out of me :)
Tracy
Apr. 21, 2008 - crzy
Posted by Eunice
That is crazy!
