2012-05-10

Big Government Gone Wild

This one should make a libertarian out of everyone.

Florida has a law requiring vending machine owners to post a notice with no purpose other than to display the notice:

Operators must post the following statement on each machine:

NOTICE TO CUSTOMER: 

FLORIDA LAW REQUIRES THIS NOTICE TO BE POSTED ON ALL FOOD AND BEVERAGE VENDING MACHINES. Report any machine without a notice to 1-800-352-9273. You may be eligible for a cash reward. DO NOT USE THIS NUMBER TO REPORT PROBLEMS WITH THE VENDING MACHINE SUCH AS LOST MONEY OR OUT-OF-DATE PRODUCTS. 

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/tips/tip10a01-05.html

Notice there is no real notice. No contact the police if you are being mugged.  Nor perhaps the health department if say mold is oozing from the machine or anything OTHER than if the notice is absent, then you might be eligible for a reward.

In case you missed it, the real humor comes if the notice is missing.  If the notice is missing, you are supposed to report the violation.  But of course if the notice is missing, you won't see the telephone number to use for reporting the violation.

I think Kurt Vonnegut wrote a story about this.

Fortunately churches, etc are exempt:

(5)?The provisions of this section do not apply to vending machines owned and operated by churches, synagogues, or nonprofit or charitable organizations exempt pursuant to s. 212.08(7)(z).

If you still think this is a prank, check the Florida legislative site:  Legislative Text