HOA From Hell #6

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It has been a little over four months since I have had the opportunity to rant about a homeowners association. To me, they serve little valuable purpose and some of their covenant restrictions are a bit too onerous for me. About the only thing mine is good for is keeping the "common areas" mowed and arranging for snow removal on the few instances we get measurable snow. Oh, and I almost forgot, collecting the HOA dues.

So the latest HOA that has earned my not so famous "HOA From Hell Award" is the Fairfax Parkside Homeowners Association of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. These lovely folks have made it a violation of their covenant for you to smoke in your own home. Are you fucking kidding me??!! Residents are also not allowed to smoke outside in "shared" areas such as porches and garages, though they can smoke in yards and patios. Isn't this taking the anti-smoking crusade a little too far? What surprises me is that this was Wisconsin and not California that passed this rule.

Personally, I am not a smoker. OK, I used to like to have an occasional cigar, but I would never have one around my wife or son or in the house. Actually, Mrs. Dickster once had mercy on me on a cold winter day and said I could have a stogie in the basement. That experiment lasted less than 5 minutes when she could smell the smoke two stories above me. These days, I do not like cigarette smoke, nor do I like being around cigarette smoke. I once walked out of a restaurant because a group started smoking two tables away, and the restaurant did not have a no smoking area.

As a Libertarian, I believe in the philosophy of John Locke who said that "no one ought to harm another in their life, health, liberty or possessions." What they do to themselves is of no concern to me. In the privacy of one's home, I believe you should be allowed to do whatever you want so long as it is legal. Hell, there are a few illegal activities that I don't have a problem with people doing in their own home. I think it is a bit ridiculous that a homeowners association can tell somebody they can not partake of a legal activity in their own home.

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