Cleaning up a bad ordinance

The Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: June 7, 2008

Hanging your clothes out to dry is once again permissible in Southampton.

The tony New York town had banned outdoor clotheslines in 2002 because they made Southampton look too blue collar. And, dahling, that just won’t do.

But then came the energy crisis. Even residents of the fabulous Hamptons are now finding it advisable to save a few bucks here and there.

“If you have three teenage sons like I do, your energy bill is going through the roof,” said Councilor Anna Throne-Holst.

The town had never really enforced the ban anyway.

But we never did understand what the big deal was.

What’s wrong with a good, honest clothesline?

It’s a matter of perception, after all, and upper-class baby boomers are all about changing perception to suit themselves.

If red can become the new black, and 50 is the new 40, then clotheslines can be re-envisioned too — from frumpy to fashionable.

Just tell your neighbors you’re helping save the environment. And maybe let the maid hang out the wash. 

Clean-cut decision

Now, wonder if the folks in Canton, Ohio, can persuade the powers-that-be that not mowing their lawns is an act of environmental compassion and civic responsibility.

The City Council there has unanimously passed an ordinance that would punish owners not just with a fine, but with jail time, for not mowing their properties.

“This is the type of action we need to take in order to clean up our neighborhoods and our city,” Mayor William J. Healy II said. The city spends about $250,000 a year to cut about 2,000 private lots and address public complaints.

Thirty days in jail for not mowing your lawn? Wonder what the penalty is for leaving your clothes on the clothesline for too long.

Buried in work, really

What a way to go.

The man who designed the Pringles potato chip can was so proud of his work that he asked to be buried in one.

His children complied by placing a portion of his cremated remains in a Pringles can and burying it along with the urn that held the remainder of his earthly remains.

Fredric J. Baur, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was an organic chemist and food storage technician for Procter & Gamble Co. He invented the can and the method of packing the curved Pringles chips, and was granted a patent in 1970.