Friday, already

Do the folks in Kalamazoo still affectionately refer to their hometown as K-Zoo or Kazoo?  I heard those terms many years ago, like the nickname Chi-Town.  Does Cheboygan have a like nickname?

Anyhow, brandishing anything these days is likely to attract unneeded attention from authorities.  You could roll up a newspaper and if you're walking down the street and wildly flailing it about, well, reasonable people might find it disturbing.

In England there is a thing called ASBO (Anti-Social Behavior Order) which allows the authorities to write up or arrest people who are being asses.  I don't know how broadly it is implemented or effective it is as a deterrent , but it's something.  They don't have a reputation as a Nanny State for nothing; their permanent records must be vast.

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It's funny that Mr. Beagles suggests a possible weapon threat with the PVC pipe.  Last summer I needed a lot of it, maybe 150ft, for another project.  It's sold in 10ft lengths, and I had to use public transportation (bus) for the trips to Home Depot and the hardware stores.  Easy enough when you cut each piece and bundle them all with zip-ties, but it's unusual looking and a bit clumsy to handle.  I had to be very careful not to smack someone in the face or break some windows, and my fellow passengers eyed me very warily.

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Uncle Ken has helpfully explained why I've been feeling a loss of brain function: "...the more that I think about it the less I know what I am talking about."  It must be time to sharpen and hone Occam's Razor.

But he forgets one thing in his "shining new socialist world of public trans."  It doesn't work when you have to haul a lot of crap around.  It is no joy to be on a bus/train when there are strollers, shopping carts, and big bags all over the place and you have a goofball bundle PVC pipe.

It's different if you throw Uber/Lyft and taxi cabs into the mix of public transportation.  Adding some kind of on-demand pickup truck service could solve a lot of problems.

This is primarily a complex urban issue, and not easily solved.