Common sense takes a holiday as Marcello Hernandez becomes the latest victim of our city's obsession with banning fun before breakfast.
Lisa Thompson just moved into my neighborhood, and already she's called the cops three times this week for "suspicious activity" that turned out to be kids playing kickball in the cul-de-sac. Yesterday she filed a noise complaint because my neighbor Marcello Hernandez was using a leaf blower at 10 AM on a Saturday. The man has a lawn care business, for crying out loud.
We've got potholes swallowing small cars, but clearly the real emergency is a guy trying to earn an honest living at a reasonable hour. Marcello has been working that same route for 12 years—never had a complaint until Queen Lisa arrived with her clipboard and her "need for peace and quiet."
Maybe she should try living next to a library instead of a residential street. Common sense would tell you that if you move into a neighborhood with actual people living their lives, you're going to hear the occasional leaf blower. But common sense packed its bags the day she moved in.