I can’t believe there’s anyone out there who doesn’t remember my frustration with the red tag man and no . . this is NOT a funny story.
We lived in a little town in MO and it seemed to me like a pretty depressed little town (so why do I want to go back so badly?) There were a lot of rundown houses and folks didn’t keep up their homes or yards and the city had a “red tag man”. He was actually a nice man but he caught (and caused) a lot of grief.
Red Tag
There were all kinds of rules about maintaining your home and those didn’t scare me because our house was fairly new and we kept it up but . . if you had a weed (one weed) that got taller than 8 or maybe 8-1/2″, and the red tag man saw it, you got a red tag stuck in your yard. As I recall, you had so many days to remedy the issue and on the prescribed day, the red tag guy would come by and if it was corrected, he would remove the red tag. If not, the city would send someone out to fix it and you would be charged.
We would see him driving down the road and I would hold my breath til he passed. Even the most manicured of yards (mine was not one of those) can occasionally have the stray weed that grows 8″ overnight!
I do see the need for trying to keep a town looking halfway decent but honestly, if you pass through that town, there are so many run down houses and eyesores that one or two 8″ weeds really don’t make a whole lot of difference and I doubt anyone looking for a place to live would decide to not choose that town because someone like me had an 8″ weed or two.
Once when Vince had already moved to Texas and I was left there, it had rained for several days and I was out cutting weeds with clippers because it was too wet to use the lawn mower and the weeds were growing . . like weeds . . and I was worried I was going to get a tag.
One day I did get a visit from the red tag man! You can read that story here.
Some people (me) lived in fear of getting a red tag. Others got them often and didn’t seem to be concerned. The red tags, along with the bad water, were probably the main reasons we left there and IF we ever move back, we will not be living in town . . but because of the water, we’ll probably never move back anyway.
Living back here in the woods, if there was a red tag man in his area, he would need an 18 wheeler when he visited us because we would get a million of them. No one sees but us. No one cares . . and we’re happy!
Erin says
Haha I remember that! Always a worry for you when Vince had to go away on business and Chad away at college! Wasn’t that on the Sunshine Quilts blog? Hmmm so glad your not going through that anymore.
Swooze says
Whatever happened with the fall in love with the puppy plan?
Sherry V. says
Oh I remember well your fear of the RED TAG man!
Everytime I drive through town I think that we need to import him here to NJ because we have a LOT of people that don’t mow their lawns.
Susan says
One of the best reasons not to live in town. =) Here, they send you a letter, and usually only if someone complains, unless it gets *really* bad.
Sandy says
I’m glad no red tag man comes around my neighborhood! I can’t mow when the yard is wet. By the time it dries out enough to mow, it’s too hot and then along comes the rain again. So the weeds grow—mostly those yellow flowers on long stems! I’m not hiring anyone to spread poison on my yard to kill the weeds, although several different company representatives have tried to sign me up. If my neighbors complain, they can volunteer to mow for me!
Angie says
I remember! Life in the country is so much better! The little towns that I have lived in though, never had a red tag man…
Joyce says
My neighbors ought to be very glad we don’t have a red tag man here…Their yard would be solid with them. They normally mow about three times per summer. I don’t think they’ve mowed their back yard yet this spring. Ugh.
Maggie says
I think a few tall weeds would look better than all the red tags in yards to people driving through town!
Diana G says
That is why we Live in the “country” and not the city. We can pretty much do whatever we want/have in our yard. No junk cars etc… But no hoa regulations either.