Get Out of My Way!

The Lord of Truth notes that both Seinfeld and South Park did episodes about similar stories...

Stricken with arthritis, Connie Haller gave up strolling the streets of this mountain town. But when the 78-year-old woman learned that the government would buy her a motorized scooter, she gladly accepted. And so did her elderly friends. And their friends. And their friends.

Now, this town of 4,000 in Kentucky's coalfields is seemingly overrun with scooter riders.

Scores of scooters and motorized wheelchairs plod along busy streets to the Wal-Mart, restaurants and beauty salons. Motorists complain that they snarl traffic, and the gray-haired riders fret about the dangers of sharing the asphalt with cars and trucks.

Mayor Doug Pugh believes the government helped create the problem and should help pay for the sidewalks that would solve it.

"It would be a lot safer," Pugh said. "These aren't like little motorcycles -- they shouldn't have to be on the roads."

Paintsville officials are not sure exactly how many people in town have scooters. But Haller said she knows of at least 50 in her apartment building alone.

Oh, good. First the government creates the problem, then they create the solution. And we pay for both. God bless democracy.