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Comment by kergonath | Hacker News Reader

> Although I get her point I think she’s antisocial and being a bad neighbor. Especially by insisting to hang it in the front yard.

That’s a very restrictive view of what a good neighbour should be. Those who are offended by the view of drying clothes and insist on dictating other people’s lifestyle are much worse neighbours than she is.

> To live peacefully in a society you have to compromise and you can’t just do as you please.

Exactly. Like accepting that some people hang their clothes to dry. That’s a step towards keeping a peaceful neighbourhood.

> What if someone decides they shiujd park their car on the front lawn since the boat and camper take up the driveway? Or just set a clinch up on the front lawn because I like to have a nap there?

Who the fuck cares? Whom would this hurt?

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The town has a standard where you don’t hang laundry though. She’s the odd person out here and should appeal to the people of the town. Otherwise she’s just doing as she pleases and that’s antisocial behavior.

As to who it “would hurt” - it could very well hurt everyone’s property values and certainly hurts everyone’s eyes to have to see a car parked on the front lawn. Again, it’s antisocial behavior and inconsiderate of the vast majority of people in the area. It’s selfish.

> The town has a standard where you don’t hang laundry though.

Indeed. And that is oppressive.

> Otherwise she’s just doing as she pleases and that’s antisocial behavior.

Doing as we please as long as it does not hurt others is the definition of freedom and liberty.

> As to who it “would hurt” - it could very well hurt everyone’s property values and certainly hurts everyone’s eyes to have to see a car parked on the front lawn.

That is entirely unreasonable, besides the fact that it is completely stupid that drying clothes can decrease property prices. It is not more dirty than anything else you can put on your lawn, and it is not a sign that the house is poorly maintained or anything.

Also, if that is your standard, why are political posters and flags acceptable? In which way does a drying shirt “hurt your eyes” (really?) more than a MAGA banner? Does your argument apply to what people wear as well, or is there anything magical about lawns?

> Again, it’s antisocial behavior and inconsiderate of the vast majority of people in the area. It’s selfish.

Not at all, this should not be any more controversial than the clothes we wear. The selfish ones are those who impose a way of life on others for no good reason.

The OP's attitude is one that can't be logically argued against as it's not a reasonable position. They have no real reason to be against hanging laundry other then "I don't like it" and so will come up with BS reasons to obscure that fact.

Actually, I don't necessarily mind it. It should be done in the backyard or sides if possible though as it's probably an eyesore to numerous neighbors.

But the bigger point is if the community has a standard or by-law that she is just ignoring. Just doing what you want is no way to live in a society as is reflective of the selfish turn we've taken. It's inconsiderate of you neighbors and part of living socially is that a part of "who we are - our true selfs" has to be sacrificed to make ourselves bearable to others. We can't just expect everyone to accept "our truth" or whatever. Otherwise, you're antisocial.

Would lower property prices compared to a similar neighborhood without clothes hanging in the front yard be a real reason?

Exactly why I live in the country. No neighbors, who almost by definition exist to constrain my life. By making up laughable things like "hurts everyone's eyes to have to see a car parked on the front lawn".

You'd think this. I've been Looking for some land to build some interesting projects (larger than usual personal-use solar farm with mechanical outbuildings, small wind turbines, various experimentation with hoop houses, etc.) lends me to believe the NIMBYs have made it to most of the country.

You have to truly be in the absolutely middle of nowhere with an amazingly huge amount of land to actually be able to "do what you want" in a reasonable manner without someone telling you no.

And I'm talking about stuff that couldn't be seen from off your property line. So many county regulations and such these days - some places 100+ miles from the nearest international airport had county building restrictions nearly as bad as the suburban development I lived in.

It's been a very eye opening and incredibly sad process for me. Land of the free indeed. It seems there is increasingly nowhere left to run away from petty authoritarians.

I learned years ago, that if there are no inspectors then there are no regulations.

In my county there are inspectors for water and septic. That's all. So that had to be to code.

Everything else is up to the landowner.

That's how it is in most of WV south of, say, Hampshire County.

Separation does go a long way to preventing disputes about whether a property line is exactly here or 3 feet west. Or whether the garden and lawn upkeep are sufficiently in keeping with the neighborhood standard.

I'm guessing my garden might be considered substandard in many suburban settings.

I'm mostly pretty sympathetic with people doing whatever is "reasonable" with their properties including drying clothes on a line. But there's clearly some point in a suburban neighborhood where broken down cars and decaying furniture will among other things depress nearby property values which is an understandable issue for the owners.

The property line thing: not so much. My neighbor hires out the working of his field. The gate into both fields in in common, but it entirely on my property.

The contractor doesn't know this, so plants to the center of the gate. Which is 3 or 4 rows of corn on my field.

Property lines are problematic everywhere.

Fair enough and certainly access right of ways can be an issue requiring lawyers especially if a property is being sold. That said, issues relating to a tree branch being over some property line tens to be less likely to become an issue when everyone has a fair bit of land.

Great, please do stay away from the rest of us. You’re happy being alone and we’re happy to not have to be around you. Everyone wins here.

True about the first part. You actually have no idea what it's like being around me. So I have one up on the rest of you there.

> You actually have no idea what it's like being around me.

That's great. I'm grateful we live in a country where people that are compelled to always put themselves first and not have to consider other people can remove themselves from society and choose to live an isolated life away from society. I'm even more grateful for the people that recognize this about themselves and make the move.

Living socially involves sacrifices and considering those around you. They do the same and we live harmoniously together. There's some people that can't or won't do this and if they try and live socially they end up frustrated as they are rejected by their community. In some cases it results in violence and in others just miserable people that can't seem to get along with anyone and they have a constant chip on their shoulder. Removing themselves from society and going to the country is the best route here.

That's not quite it. Those in the country live socially and harmoniously. But without the pressure of breathing at the neighbors armpit, it's far easier.

For instance, I contribute to the local volunteer fire department. The annual festival. The fireworks on the 4th.

I pull my neighbors out of the ditch when their car slides on snow in the winter. Hell, I snowplow my stretch of gravel with my tractor if the county isn't going to get to it for a couple days and my neighbors need to get to work.

Interactions are generally more cooperative, maybe even healthier, without the always-being-in-one-another's-face.

Rural communities are great and I'm grateful for them as they are the breadbasket of our nation. Having real communities that come together to help and to celebrate things is great and I'm grateful I live in a town that's like that too. But yeah, where I live I think you need to keep the automobile on the driveway lol.

> Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about.

If it's so important, just make an official law. Don't allow police or towns official to enforce whatever rule they made up. Is your hair too short/long for your gender prototype? Is the music band in your t-shirt not welcome here? Is your hallowing decoration not 100% lore compliant?

Oh no, won't anyone think of the property values! I'm a house owner and I want them to crash hard since we're in a socially unsustainable period right now. If a car parked on the lawn makes a considerable difference in the price, I'm happy to watch the bubble burst. Thinking in terms of white picket fences and constantly rising property values is what's selfish.

Land of the free.

It's revealing what's considered anti-social (hang drying your clothes) and what's considered normal (driving massive, pedestrian-flattening pickups).

> It's revealing what's considered anti-social (hang drying your clothes)

Who said hanging your clothing is antisocial? No, hanging your clothing in defiance of a community by-law or guideline is antisocial by virtue of most your neighbors finding it that way.

You don't get to decide if you're antisocial or not. Society does.

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