Hanging Rights

Of all the ridiculous squabbles we hear about in the news the most recent debate over the right to hang laundry out to dry has to be one of the most ludicrous. Who would have guessed that in this day and age of everyone and his dog trying to go green someone would have an issue with laundry hanging on a clothesline. As a child growing up in a small rural community in Kansas one of my favorite things was to sleep on freshly laundered sheets that had dried in the sun; there isn’t a potpourri around that could match that wonderful smell.  And it was just a given that every house had their own clothes line. Granted it was generally in the back yard or side yard, but it was there.  It seems for the most part persons offended by the sight of laundry drying on the line appear to live in suburbia, condominiums, or townhouse communities where they worry about aesthetics. Currently several states have passed laws restricting the local authorities right to stop or fine residents for using clotheslines. Other states are looking at adopting similar laws. Interestingly it looks like the “right to hang” will win out over the “right to harangue”.