It's an undeniable truth of life; change happens in increments and it's often not a good thing. Just look at what our society has decided government must control; the size of your soda cup for example. Some of us were laughed at and ridiculed when we said it would end up here because it seemed ridiculous at the time but bit by bit, government bureaucrats inched towards telling you that you can't have 36 ounces of soda in one cup.

Off to Pinellas County, FL; what is one of the quintessential American weekend pastimes? Barbecuing. Light up the grill and throw on some hamburgers, hotdogs, steaks, ribs... have a beer and invite friends or family over. It's red, white and blue to the core. Now it's pretty much illegal in our "I'm offended" world.

There is a video posted on Facebook of a Pinellas County environmental code enforcement officer issuing a citation to a resident for allowing the smoke and odor emanating from his BBQ grill to cross his property line and disturb a neighbor. No, really. Stop laughing, it's not a joke.

The environmental gestapo agent received a call from a neighbor, who is across the street, complaining that the smoke and odor from the backyard grill was offending her. According to the resident being cited, the woman making the complaint is one of those neighbors that no one likes because she's always complaining, calling the cops about the littlest perceived slight.

But that doesn't matter (and shouldn't if the complaint is legit) in this case because the county officer stood in her yard, took pictures of the smoke emanating from the neighbor's backyard and then stood in the street to ensure that he could smell the wonderful aroma of ribs and burgers cooking. That's all it took, he issued a citation for failure to control odors and smoke.

He is very polite about the whole thing but explains that residents of Pinellas County are required to ensure the odors and smoke from their BBQ remain within the property line of their lot. He suggests buying a specially constructed BBQ grill that keeps most of the smoke inside the housing; but doesn't explain what happens when you open the grill to check on the meat. And it can't be completely air tight, can it?

I did an internet search using several phrases but couldn't find a 'smokeless' or airtight BBQ grill. I did find smokeless grills but they are electric, indoor grills for city bound apartment dwellers. None that are like our 'regular' BBQ grills that control and contain the smoke and odor. But give them time. UC Berkeley student researchers received a $15,000 starter grant to begin studying how to control and contain BBQ smoke and odors in order to stop man caused global warming. I'm sure they'll come up with a solution that will cost an arm and a leg and the meat will be cooked by some laser contraption that sears the animal flesh in 10 seconds leaving it tasting like tofu.

This is just ridiculous. We are expected to control the wind, the smoke, the wonderful odor of meat grilling over an open flame. When are we just going to tell people to close their windows and get over it?