That law about no shoes in the diner was a myth until I found the real one about ice cream

Honestly I always thought the whole 'it's illegal to eat ice cream on a sidewalk' thing was just a joke. Then last month my buddy moved to a small town in Alabama and sent me a pic of the actual town code. It says you can't eat ice cream while standing on any public sidewalk within city limits after 8 PM. I laughed until I looked up the town website myself and there it was in black and white, passed back in 1977. Tbh I still don't get the logic behind it but at least now I know the dumbest law I've ever seen is real. Anyone else find a law that sounded fake but turned out to be 100% legit?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant.nina27d ago

In my experience, these ultra specific laws usually come from a town trying to solve one annoying problem without causing a bigger fight. Like the ice cream thing - instead of banning cheap plastic cones or going after every single shop, they just banned eating on the sidewalk at night when the mess was worst and kids were already heading home. It's the same way my HOA handles stuff, they pass these oddly narrow rules because trying to get everyone to agree on a broad solution is impossible. You end up with these weird time and place restrictions that make no sense unless you know the specific gripe that started it all.

vera_campbell2mo ago

Did they say why exactly that law was passed back in 77? Like was there some big incident with melting cones causing a mess or something? It's so specific to the time and place, there has to be a weird backstory to it.

gibson.elizabeth2mo ago

Oh for goodness sake, I remember when that went through. It wasn't about one big incident, it was more about a whole summer of them. Every corner store and custard stand had these cheap plastic cones that would just go limp the second it got above 80 degrees. You'd walk down the sidewalk and see sticky trails everywhere, kids crying because their treat ended up on the ground, and the city was getting complaints about the mess attracting bees and wasps like crazy. It's the same thing as why you see so many rules about outdoor seating now or why some towns ban certain types of takeout packaging. We pass laws not because of one big emergency, but because enough little irritations pile up and people finally say "enough." Sometimes the most specific rules come from the most ordinary frustrations.