Fun Now Illegal in Washington DC

You get the feeling that Frank Winstead was the kid in school that kept a list of the other kids who misbehaved, and promptly provided that list to the teacher when he/she returned to the room.

It would be one thing if Winstead was just another guy, but unfortunately for folks in Washington DC and the owners of Comet Ping-Pong, Frank Winstead is a member of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.



So what's Winstead's problem? He doesn't like that Comet had a ping-pong table outside the restaurant on the side walk, claiming in a YouTube video (above) that it's a traffic distraction and a hazard.

Well, according to a Washington Post report yesterday, Winstead has gotten his way, and Comet has been forced to remove the ping-pong table from the sidewalk outside of the restaurant.

Winstead isn't alone in his opposition though, fellow commissioner Karen Perry uses the argument that, "when the first child got hurt chasing a Ping-Pong ball onto Connecticut Avenue, people would feel differently. Comet was flagrantly violating the public space law."

By this argument we should just go ahead and ban any eating outside. What if an olive rolls off someone's plate and goes into the street? What if some kid gets killed running after it? Hell, let's just ban any sidewalk activity outright. Walking on that very sidewalk presents more hazards than I care to count. Where is Commissioner Perry or Winstead on the dangers sidewalk walking, or olive rolling?

You can find there email addresses here. Email them now. Tell them that we need to go further. We need to ban any activity near the street that might be seen as a distraction to traffic or that could potentially get someone hurt.

Someone's life might be dependent on it.