Sense and Suitability

Word on the street is that, back in the day, the government actually encouraged people to plant real food in their yards. Right. Well, last week, a woman in Oak Park, Michigan was fined and threatened with imprisonment for growing vegetables on her own land. Authorities charged Mrs. Julie Bass with a misdemeanor for refusing to uproot her garden. City ordinance states that grass or other "suitable living plant material" should cover unpaved land, which makes enough sense to you and me. Ah, but wait: 

Oak Park’s Planning and Technology Director Kevin Rulkowski says, “If you look at the dictionary, suitable means common. You can look all throughout the city and you'll never find another vegetable garden that consumes the entire front yard.”

Because in Rulkowski's world, suitable means common and common means suitable, what is now uncommon is destined to be forever unsuitable; for none may render the uncommon common without first engaging in the ill-suited, and by extension, illegal. Do you follow?

After the story, pretty much everyone and their dog made a beeline for Merriam Webster's definition of suitable and found no mention of "common". You can follow the unraveling hilarity here.

Void where not Suitable

The proper response seems clear enough. Everyone should emulate the work of our Julie Bass, because in the absurdistan that is America's suburbs, growing vegetables on your own land is a revolutionary act. Julie is writing all about this on her blog. I think the implications of this case and the attention it receives are going to be huge (or at least, they could be), so tell your friends.