Wednesday, September 2, 2009

“Addressing a Public Issue: Raising a Stink”

The city of Honolulu is considering local legislation to address the problem of bad odors on local buses. This will be a change from the old official policy of blaming it on the dog.

The city council will vote on a bill to prevent smelly articles from being brought onto public transit. If is passes, people living on bus stop benches won’t to have to be exposed to other people’s bad odor anymore.

The bill will also address drunkenness, spitting, or urinating on a bus. Those things are meant to be done in the bus station.

If the bill passes, people who produce an offensive smell on a bus can be ejected and/or fined. So if you break wind on a bus, you may wind up paying for your own gas.

The ACLU argues that the odor bill’s enforcement would be arbitrary and would become prejudicial. So now the gloves are off, but the shoes have to stay on.

The bill is also being lobbied against by a wealthy contingent of winos and hobos.