“You want to spend your entire annual bonus on a privacy fence?”
she asked.
“No. I want to spend
the money on a non-offense fence,” he
replied.
“You want the fence so you can sunbathe and walk around
naked… You want a privacy fence,” she
shot back.
He corrected her: “I DO want to walk around and sunbathe naked… A LOT, but
that’s why I have to build a non-offense
fence, not a privacy fence. There's a difference!”
You see, from the perspective of our Platypus, he felt forced to
build the fence to avoid offending
the neighbors---who would no doubt call the cops on him for nakedness. But it was NOT out of any search for "privacy"
and the distinction was important to him.
As he recounted to us, PRIVACY implies that you want to be
concealed or protected from others knowing what you are doing. PRIVACY connotes that you are the person
seeking out something. As a legitimate
nudist, our Platypus merely wants to avoid
offending someone else. He’s not an exhibitionist, but he couldn’t care
less whether someone else saw him in his birthday suit. The fence is a courtesy to those who do not
wish to see his nudity.
The fur on our Platypus bristles at any implication that he would spend
money on a fence if others didn’t have hang ups about nudity. He wouldn’t.
How about it readers? Is he being hyper-technical or is the
distinction important? Is it important we make clear that our fences are NOT to
protect those within them so much as a concession to those on the outside?
I think he's exactly right - that's an important distinction worth highlighting. Thanks for helping me think about this in a new way.
ReplyDeleteI think it is an important distinction. If we dont' make distictions then nudists will be categorized with swingers, and for many persons who are intellectually too lazy to determine the difference, they assume we are the same as the swingers, and we, that is all nudists/naturists suffer from the lack of distinction as a result. So, yes, being clear and distinct about things is important.
ReplyDeleteHere in Oregon, you can be nakedin your own yard as long as you cannot be seen from a "public" area. So beign seen from other neighboring yards doesn't matter, except if your neighbors are hung up about nudity and then it might cause problems with getting along with your neighbors. So, a non-offense fence may make sense, as the only purpose is to prevent offending others, as no laws would be broken.
I hadn't thought of that way but he's absolutely right. I don't care about being seen in the nude but I don't want to deal with the aftermath of those who chose to be offended by my nudity.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to look at it is a privacy fence has to be good enough that you don't have to worry about your neighbors looking in, even if they wanted to. A "non-offense" fence means they know you're naked, but they would have to go out of their way to see you and be offended.
ReplyDeleteThe difference here in Florida is an opaque fence is more expensive and more easily destroyed in a hurricane. A fence with overlapping slats is cheaper, more durable, and unless they get up next to it and look at the right angle, they're not going to be able to see you. And if they do, it's their fault if they're offended.
Both my neighbors know and don't care as long as they can't see my wife and I without going out of their way.
Sounds right to me! I agree completely with him. Good neighbors are hard to come by and no use offending them.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYour non-offence fence is your neighbours privacy fence.
ReplyDeleteExplanation?
You don´t need to know what they are doing - and they don´t gonna tell you.