Clipboard Nazis 2
Philly dot com tells the story of a condominium where exterior colored Christmas lights are banned. Only white lights are permitted and then only in certain locations (for example, in the shrubbery, not on the building itself).
Residents agreed to these restrictions when they bought their units.
All palaver about “rules are rules” aside, here’s the reason given for having and enforcing this one:
Former board president Kenneth Davis called the matter a “nonissue.”
“Whatever you want to do, do it inside,” Davis said, adding that the board was trying to preserve property values.
Questions of good taste aside, persons have the screwiest notions about what affects property values.
[Fade to dream sequence]
Real Estate Agent: “So, would you like to make an offer?”
Pigeon: “I don’t think so. They had ugly Christmas decorations last year.”
[Fade back in]
Rules are indeed rules.
Arbitrary and stupid are still arbitrary and stupid.
Full disclosure:
I live in a condo. They have rules about decorations.
They may be arbitrary about some things, but they are not stupid.
December 11, 2011 at 6:16 pm
We are not allowed to have icicle lights – they’re specifically banned in our covenants. Not sure which one of the principals (as in development partners) has a case against them, but one of them must.
December 12, 2011 at 8:55 am
The first time I saw icicle lights, I liked them. I’ve turned against them because I think they throw just too much light and there’s enough ambient light already.
That doesn’t mean I’d ban them.