Garage sales are dangerous if you have to pay a fee.

The City of Dallas is considering enacting an ordinance that would charge residents a fee if they wish to have a garage sale. I don't have a lot of thought one way or the other on the issue, but Julia Dodson of Dallas does. And if the argument she's come up with is the best she can do, then I'd say the fee will be implemented.

Here's her argument: Charging residents a fee will make garage sales dangerous. You see, instead of paying the fee, residents will move their sales to dark backyards and back alleys where they can't be seen. Women will be mugged as they paw through the old Mr. Coffee machines, worn blue jeans, toasters, paperbacks, and cracked pottery.

I think Julia's cheese has slid right off her cracker. But then again, maybe what she's saying is an indictment of the way people think today. Instead of saying, "Oh darn! I now have to pay $15 to the city to have a garage sale," people immediately start planning how to break the law without getting caught. It seems moral standards are in extremely short supply these days.

"Garage sale safety at stake." The Dallas Morning News; October 15, 2010; p. 26A.