Only in America…

19/03/2008

What is it about America? I know we have some odd laws and regulations over here, but these are still (supposedly) still on the statute books in various states, counties and towns over the pond…
 
In Alabama it is illegal to play dominos on Sunday or to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church while in Fairbanks, Alaska, it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.
 
Wife beating is still officially legal in some parts, although terms and conditions do apply. In Arkansas, a man can legally beat his wife - but not more than once a month; and in Los Angeles, a man may legally beat his wife with a leather strap - as long as it is less than two inches wide, or she gives him permission to use a wider strap.
 
In Hartford, Connecticut, it is illegal to educate a dog or for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday but we’re not sure if these two are connected. In Pueblo, Colorado it is illegal to let a dandelion grow within city limits and in Newark, selling ice cream after 6pm is against the law, unless the customer has a note from his doctor.
 
And the Americans are also very demanding of modesty. In Pasadena, it is illegal for a secretary to be alone in a room with her boss, while in San Francisco, wiping one's car with used underwear is punishable.
 
In Logan County, Colorado, it is deemed to be illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep and they certainly have a thing about certain items of clothing. In Miami, Florida, men are forbidden by law from wearing any kind of strapless gown. Which is probably just as well. In Sarasota, it is illegal to sing while wearing a bathing suit and in Nogales, Arizona, you really, really don’t want to be caught wearing suspenders.
 
In Guernee, Illinois, women weighing more than 200 pounds are forbidden from riding horses in shorts – which is a kindness of sorts to the horses as well as the watching public. And in Portland, Maine, it is illegal for men to tickle women under the chin with feather dusters. All good clean fun? Think again!
 
But perhaps the most modest Americans live in Georgia where, in the town of Quitman, it is deemed to be against the law to change the clothes on a storefront mannequin unless (of course) the shades are down.
 
And this is the country which gives us the leader of the free world…