The peculiarly USAnian institution of the Home Owners' Association (HOA) (I'm Canadian) is notoriously filled with the kind of busybody Mussolini/Franco-wannabe dictators and martinets that want nothing more than to (a) be all up in everyone else's business, and (b) be upset about it.
They get on the boards (no one else wants to be on them), and they set crazy control-freak rules [1] like:
No vehicles parked on street.
No vehicles parked in driveways outside the hours of 8am - 6pm.
No flags allowed.
No advertising allowed, including company branding on vehicles parked in the neighbourhood.
All yards must be covered with lawn consisting of approved grass seed types and be maintained between 2 and 3 inches long at all times.
All windows must have blinds or drapes that show white to the outside.
Only the colours of these three approved paint chips may be used to paint fences with.
All houses must be stucco of one of these 3 approved colours.
House numbers must be displayed in this approved font, and be between X and Y inches high.
No overnight guests without advanced approval.
... and on and on and on. And then they go around the neighbourhood looking for violators to report to the board (that they're on) for punishment and correction.
It's downright nutty.
[1] These are all examples I've seen online.
#busybody #martinet #Mussolini #Franco #dictator #control #ControlFreak
