Okay. More on those crazy laws in the United States.
I mentioned a few earlier this month. But there are so many, it is hard not to give mention to a couple more.
Let’s start in Oklahoma. There, eavesdropping is a misdemeanor. But this is only true if you intend to overhear someone and then repeat it to annoy, vex, or injure them. So. If you just want to be nosy and listen in? No big deal. But just don’t use what you heard as weaponized gossip.
In Connecticut, pickles must be fit for human consumption. Heckins. I agree. I hope it is that way in Ohio, too. So, that part isn’t weird to me. The weird part is how officials once tested that in CT. In 1948, inspectors determined pickle quality by bouncing them. If there was no bounce? The pickle-creator was sent to jail. The defendants had to post bail equivalent to over $26,000 today. They must have had a problem with soggy pickles up there.
Let’s move down the coast to North Carolina. They decided elephants should not plow cotton fields. The likely inspiration was none other than P.T. Barnum. He once used elephants to plow land as a publicity stunt. I guess the lawmakers in the Tarheel state didn’t think this was fair to the elephants. Good on them.
Finally. In Idaho, cannibalism is illegal. Well, almost. Apparently, if you’re in a genuine life-or-death survival situation? And you didn’t actually kill the person? Well. Ring the dinner bell. The law allows cannibalism in that way. Mmmm. Mmmmm. Good.
So. Have at it. Just don’t mix your laws in Idaho and Connecticut. Like, eat the pickle, but don’t bounce the dead person.
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“It is not wisdom but authority that makes a law.” — Thomas Hobbes
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“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams
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“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
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