you know what really grinds my gears

You know what really grinds my gears? Laws! Of course, most laws are good as they can prevent crime and danger from happening in our fair country. Without laws there is no order or discipline. However, there are some laws in the State of California that are so absurd, they make you question if you are really living in a free democratic society.
Let’s start with the most popular law of late, the cell phone law. Basically the law states that the cell phone cannot be used while driving. Let me rephrase that… the cell phone can be used, but only through a hands-free device. As long as the phone is not being held by hand while still driving, then you’re okay.
Here’s where the problem arises. To me the big question is, “Why is there need for this rule?” If the government’s answer is along the lines of, the phone being a DISTRACTION that could alter a person’s driving skills, then they need to come up with more things to outlaw while driving…
The government should outlaw text messaging someone while driving. To me, text messaging is worse than someone dialing up a buddy and talking to them. Text messaging really takes the attention of the road away from the driver, being that the driver has to concentrate on what it is they want to text, let alone the problem of looking at the cell phone screen while trying to keep eyes on the road.
The government should outlaw, and ladies might not be happy about this one, putting on makeup while driving. Females, in the morning on their way to work or school, are notorious for putting on mascara, lipstick, and who knows what else to beautify themselves. Makeup isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it causes chicks to look at the mirror while trying to drive, bad driving decisions could be made, i.e. un-suspected stops and swerving.
The bottom line is this. The cell phone law is acceptable, as if you look at these numbers according to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year. Those numbers are real and understandable. However, along with holding and talking on a cell-phone being outlawed while driving, so should text messaging, and putting on makeup while driving too!

Sorry for going off on the cell-phone law, but that one just really irks me. On the other hand, the cell phone law isn’t the only law that grinds my gears in the state of California. There are others…
“It is illegal to set up a mousetrap without a hunting license.” Are you serious? You have to have a hunting license to kill a rodent roaming around in your living space. What if you’ve never hunted in your life? It’s not like setting up a mousetrap takes the expertise of a hunter. Since when did mice join the endangered species list?
“Peeling an orange in your hotel room is banned in California.” Once again, you’ve got to be kidding me? An orange, one of the most tastiest and well-known fruits produced by the masses in this state, and we can’t even peel them in a hotel room? Aren’t their hospitality oranges, apples, and bananas in bowls at hotels? What do they expect us to do, take an orange and peel it outside. What if we’re not trying to eat the orange until midnight or later, when we’re winding down in the oh-so-comfortable beds that hotels provide while, watching ESPN, and we don’t feel like getting up to walk out of the room to peel an orange?

That’s the law that just puts me over the edge here in this state, and that is what this column is going to end off with. Once again, laws help to provide stability and order in disciplining us, but some, are just taken to the next level. You know what they say though, rules are meant to be broken!