A New Years Day stroll on Laguna Beach, a setting sun, a much-relished camping escape turned into a drone buzz-match. A law enforcement officer suddenly chastened a newbie drone pilot filming his family doing surfside acrobatics.
“Take it down!” he was ordered. Public beach, I suppose, still off-limits to drones.
Which is what I had wanted to say during the whole episode. Take it down.
Fences make good neighbors. They define personal turf; leave my stuff alone.
Drones break the rules of fences. Shouldn’t my private space be protected from uninvited intrusion?
I know, I know. Jesus had no turf of his own, “no place to lay His head.” Foxes had dens and birds had nests, but not him.
And, presumably, not us any more.
Giving up personal space and privacy for a just cause is a noble thing. But I’m not so sure we should welcome it as a norm.
When will the next drone-weaponized photograph of me picking my nose appear on Facebook?
Or far worse.