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“Loitering” aka “standing while young”
this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
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Let's be fair, here. You can also get done for "standing while homeless," and "standing while poorly dressed," and also "standing while black and/or Hispanic."
Curiously enough, you'll never get nicked for loitering if you appear to be doing something vaguely socially acceptable. I suggest showing up with an easel and paints; you can hang around all day without anyone bothering you.
most places aren't illegal for you to simply stand around in.
you are probably thinking of the "land of the free"
Yes from what I've seen here in the "land of the free," people get suspicious & uncomfortable at anyone who isn't actively rushing around with a purpose or purchasing goods & services from establishments. Can't just stand around or lay down or even sit, there are no benches anywhere.
Loitering...I don't even think that word has a translation in my language. You made up a term and turn it into a crime?
I think it means like hanging around. But I guess they thought a 'Hanging around' charge would be hard to take seriously in court. Land of the free, eh
Started as a Dutch word then moved into middle English. I'm sure there is an equivalent word on whatever language you speak.
Except in Italy, nearly the totality of the coast is privately handled and you must pay to access it...
It's like that all up the US Pacific and Atlantic and the US has a lot of coast.
The gulf is for the poors to play in the oil every now and then as a treat.
California does not have private beaches. Nor do a lot of states.
Tell that to California property owners near beaches.
Most places in the US define anything below the average high tide line as public. You can own the dry sand above, but if it is wet it is public. Unfortunately there are exceptions.
Is this another stupid American thing? I've never heard anyone getting in trouble for just laying around on public property
There's plenty of places by me where you can do this, and I live in the most dense state in America.
You hear about mainly in front of stores and malls in general. Your milage will vary depending on how dark, young or poor you look.
When you say dense.......... what is it we're... talking about?.. 😏
Credit where it's due!
In Finland we have "Everyman's Right" which is the right to access nature on private land without needing the owner's permission.
You can walk, hike, cycle, swim, pick berries/mushrooms, and camp temporarily, as long as you stay away from homes, gardens, and cultivated fields. Making a fire is however not allowed without permission.
“Everyman’s Right”
As a side note fact they changed it to "everyone's rights" (jokamiehenoikeudet -> jokaisenoikeudet) recently
Allemannsretten lenge leve
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TIL that "loitering" does not mean leaving garbage in public spaces. Ive heard the term but never expected it to mean standing around idle, this is so stupid.
EDIT: nvm i was thinking about “littering”. english is hard.
You are thinking of littering. Loitering is standing around idle on another person’s property. It’s usually used now adays to move vagrants along but the law has jim crow origins.
Also, a driving licence and a driving loicence are the same thing. The latter is just in a British accent.
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Loitering is illegal in the US because public spaces are free. Why are you just sitting in a public space for free when you could be sitting in a cafe or restaurant and contributing to the economy? Oh you don't have that money? Well then you're worthless to society and just shouldn't exist, obviously.
when you could be sitting in a cafe or restaurant and contributing to the economy
or even better, being exploited for cheap labor in prison!
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Few places nowadays is it legal to lay around & do whatever you want outdoors, usually getting cited for loitering or something.
What kind of shitty place are you living in?
I immediately thought of homeless people when I read this. I mean I could probably lollygag a lot of places but if you look a certain way, have long hair, dirty clothes, a few bags with you, you start attracting the wrong kind of attention fast. Often in the nicest places of all. Shittier places leave you alone.
The US is a shithole
I once went to a park sat on a bench and right in front of me was a no loitering sign. It's a park, what else am I going to do?
Most of those "no loitering" signs only exist to give the police a legal crowbar against homeless people. Realistically if you're just sitting and minding your business nobody will actually come along and eject you.
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I always find it funny to figure out that stuffblike loitering isn't something the Simpson invented. It's something americans are not allowed to. But freedom is very important to them
Every day I learn more about how that country is a shithole
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In some places the nice beaches have been privatised by local hotels or clubs so you gotta pay them to sit on the beach or go sit somewhere less nice. Coming from Western Australia where we have the nicest beaches in the world (all free), I take this concept of "owning beach space" as a personal affront.
personal affront
as opposed to personal beach front
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Free land can be bought. Bought land can't be free.
Trite and inaccurate.
In the UK all farmland is fenced off, with occasional walking paths available. I used to think the Ridgeway was great because there was about 50 miles of trails one could walk on or ride a bike, and in summer motorbikes and 4x4s were allowed too.
It blew my mind when I moved to Spain and I worked out I could get pretty much anywhere off road whenever I felt like it.
For novelty I once rode my little motorbike from my house to the supermarket, with only about 50m on paved roads. It was very liberating. But unfortunately some of the yoghurt I bought got squashed by the jostling on the way home, and my bag smelled of bad milk for a couple months even after I'd washed it :-/
The new coastal path has access rights down to the sea in most cases.
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