Air-Dry vs. Hung Out to Dry [PHIL-OSOPHY]

I can't believe the pols on Beacon Hill are even debating this, but because of their laws, rules and regulations, you can't just hang your clothes out to dry on a line. It's an eyesore and the condo people would rather string you up than see your krakish flapping in the wind.

A proposal filed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) and Sen. Michael Barrett (D-Lexington) will allow local governments to regulate or restrict clotheslines, but those restrictions would have to be approved through a community-wide referendum or at Town Meeting.

Put me down with the greenies on this one. Nothing smells fresher than the clean scent of clothes rights off the clothesline. It's environmentally friendly, it whitens and disinfects your clothes, saves you big bucks because there's no shrinkage, you're not paying for the dryer while preventing a possible fire from all that lint, plus your clothes last longer.

Once upon a time, hanging clothes on the clothesline was a backyard fixture. Can you believe that today, we actually have to pass laws like S.1169 just to have the "right to dry?" This sure as hell ain't the same America I was born in.

If it's the Legislature's business to address climate change and carbon footprints, then not voting this would be much the same as footprints on quicksand.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.