Soapbox of the Day

I'm starting to think that OKC is run by some secret cadre of socialists. I'm a big believer in minimum government. Some things are better if they're centralized--roads, trash, national defense, etc. and obviously the money has to come from somewhere, but too much busybodyness by Big Brother kills initiative and creativity. Laws should exist to protect citizens, not to fill the pockets of city officials. My own lovely birthplace of Bellevue, Nebraska is notorious for this.

Only proponents of maximum government interference would make it such a pain in the butt to own a 45-lb. piece of plastic and float it on the water.

I went to renew my sticker for my kayak today. The first time I tried, I forgot my card that I got in the mail so the Tag Agency wouldn't take it. Okay, fair enough. So I left work early to go home and get the card. I went to another Tag Agency and they said, "We don't accept debit or credit cards for anything under $25."

I pointed out that the card I got in the mail didn't specify that. In fact it very clearly states that I could use my debit card. All she said was, "Different Tag Agencies have different rules. Sorry." I was really irritated.

I found out not only do we have to pay excise taxes and register kayaks (including inflatable kayaks), you also have to pay taxes even if you made the boat yourself. That's just too silly. I think the people that came up with that are just being greedy, little bitches.

On a separate yet equally annoying note, the first time I bought a bottle of wine in Oklahoma City, I walked all over the liquor store looking for a corkscrew. I finally had to ask the guy at the register where the corkscrews were at. He told me they couldn't sell anything that people could use to open the bottle on the way home. WHAT?! I have a bottle opener on my knife and I could pop open a beer in the car, but apparently I'm much more likely to uncork a bottle of Pinot Grigio and get s@#$-faced on the two-mile drive back to my house. He thought it was silly too, but he didn't make the laws. Also they don't sell wine or liquor in grocery stores, although when I lived in San Angelo, Texas they didn't even sell it within the city limits. Everybody knows that people don't get drunk off of beer, right? All these holy roller blue laws and yet they still manage to maintain one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in America. It goes to show that you can always try to legislate morality, but it usually doesn't work out too well.