Law is a growing, evolving thing, and as such goes through numerous changes. But sometimes a change is made, or an evolution happens, without the proper thought has gone into the process. This ultimately means that some laws remain in place long after they were made, and today nobody fully understands why the law was passed in the first place.
Take a look at some of the real laws that remain in place today, and are truly bizarre.
No Changing Lightbulbs
In Australia, up until 1998, you were forbidden from changing your own lightbulbs or unplugging your own appliances, unless you had the appropriate qualifications to do so. This law was put into place originally, according to a spokesperson, under the Electricity Safety Act, and was intended to avoid any harm coming to those who attempted to tamper with their own electrical systems.
In 1998 the law was updated. It is now legal for you to change your own lightbulbs and unplug your own appliances, but still illegal for you to work on your own electrical systems.
Better Hold It
In Florida, if it is after 6 pm and you are in public, you better not pass gas, lest you face a fine. This is one of the more debated laws and some claim that it doesn’t exist at all. But others insist that it is real, passed at some point in the 1800s.
Either way, real or not, it might just be the most difficult to enforce the law of all time.
Keep Him Outside
This one is great because it has a story to go along with it. In Arizona, it is illegal to let a donkey sleep in your bathtub.
Why? Because, back in 1924 a local trader used to let his donkey into his house at night, where it would sleep in his bathtub. Then, in a stroke of bad luck, the local dam broke and the town was flooded. The donkey, asleep in the tub, was carried down into a valley, miles from town.
The animal survived, but so much time and effort were spent rescuing the animal that the locals immediately passed the law, more as a means to force the trader into not making the same mistake again. Rather, he had to find another way to look after his horses.
You Better Smile
If you ever head to Milan, Italy, be sure to smile, constantly, or you’ll be in trouble. A law that still stands today, carried over from the Austro-Hungarian era, demands that all citizens smile, constantly, unless they are at a funeral, or at the bedside of a dying family member.
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Let Them In
Lastly, in Scotland, a smart thief would simply knock on your door, and ask to use the bathroom. You must let him in, after all, denying him would be against the law. If it is actually enforced is another story, and why the law made a question that none today can answer.