A Couple of Annoying Observations

I just wanted to comment on a couple of issues I noticed today that may have reflected some of my internal conservative convictions. Both issues involve the University of Maine but could apply anywhere -- town ordinances and the benefits of the free market.

So I was standing in a long line this afternoon at the school's cafeteria. Everybody was patiently waiting for their opportunity to provide the waiters with what items they wanted on their sandwhiches. As far as I could tell, the waiters were working at a reasonable pace, the students were courteous and reasonable with their requests. A boy in front of me began to order and espoused certain preferences and details for how he wanted his sandwhich prepared. The waiter was growing increasingly testy and sarcastic -- if not downright hostile. The guy didn't seem to get agitated by her cavalier attitude but also didn't retreat from his initial idea of precisely what kind of sandwhich he wanted to eat. His requests continued in equally clear and elaborate detail. By the end of the ordeal, the waiter was saying things like, "aren't you just so particular?", "Is that going to be enough onions -- I assume you're going to ask for more," and finally at the end when she transferred the sandwhich to the other waiter to handle the veggies, openly called him "Mr. Picky." I wasn't even a part of this but if I were that kid, I would've been annoyed. A waiter's job is to shut their mouth and provide the service that the customer desires, so long as the requests aren't totally unreasonable or overtly rude. This underscores the incredible virtues of the free market. The only reason that lady can get away with being rude and performing her job poorly is because of a lack of accountability and competing services. I'm generally a proponent of most all services being left in the hands of private entities that compete with one another to provide exactly what the customer wants. So what am I proposing for state funded universities? No taxpayers dollars or tuition money should go to dining. This results in over-priced, bad food, bad services, and an all-out cluster fuck during major meal rushes. And regarding state university fiscal priorities, especially here at UMaine, I have a whole heck of a lot to complain about. I'm wondering if others have noticed the complete administrative incompetence at other schools, the total waste of the publics money, and the exploiting and condescending attitude that administrators convey toward students. I'm thinking private universities don't view their student populations with such snobbishness.

The other concern is towns around universities (but any towns in general) imposing strict ordinances in an effort to reduce disorderly conduct, ie: parties and drunken debauchery. I think that all housing ordinances everywhere should be banned. Whether we're talking about an affluent suburb in which the town demands a certain distance from the house to the road, prohibiting junk in the lawn, strict levels of maintenance, etc. It's obvious these people hate the American dream. If somebody owns property they should be able to do whatever the heck they want with it, unless they're posing a danger to the community. Danger would be defined as a threat to your personal safety.
So here in Orono, the town council is trying to impose an ordinance that caps the number of residents occupying a rented unit at 3. The Maine Campus has quoted one of the Orono residents who supports this:

"Then, in the fall of 2002, Orono resident Michael Curtis was assaulted outside his home after asking a noisy group to take their party outside. "I was lying on the grass and there was at least two guys punching and kicking me," Curtis told The Maine Campus at the time.

No one was charged for the assault, and in the coming months Orono and university officials searched for ways to remedy the rift that the incident created. At public hearings, other Orono residents living near students voiced complaints about noise and property destruction."

This is such foolishness. I'm sorry this man was beaten but restricting the freedoms of landlords and tenants because you're connecting 4 people as opposed to 3 living in a unit as leading to drunken lawn thrashings is far fetched. I have personally been punched before and I responded by talking to the police and pressing charges against the guy. This is a problem that should be dealt with on an individual basis, not with sweeping ordinance measures.

I've been getting the feeling lately that there's a cultural war on Fun and freedom. People need to live and let live. And maybe toughen up a little bit while they're at it. In short, let the market work its magic and keep the government out of town and urban planning. Government has lots of productive roles to play, such as affording citizens of this country an equal chance to succeed and a basic living standard, but it really should stay out of peoples' business.