Drones Above

No, not the Hellfire Predator unmanned aerial vehicle used last week to reduce Islamic Fundamentalist Mullah Akhtar Mansour to ashes while being driven in a Toyota Corolla in rural Pakistan, but the increasingly everyday kind of drone that suddenly shows up over your head.

My first close encounter came last summer at the West Tisbury Farmers Market. There it was, about 20 feet high, buzzing about, doing what I'm not sure. But it was intrusive, unsettling and unwelcome. Everyone pointed, shook their heads, and then happily paid exorbitant prices for heirloom tomatoes and other island farm-to-table fare.

The Wall Street Journal recently used its WSJ Twitter page to poll followers on their thoughts. Altitude seems to be the most concerning variable. Its demographic probably skews right and the results aren't scientific, but put me with the majority here.