you fool. you absolute buffoon. you think you can challenge me in my own realm? you think you can rebel against my authority? you dare come into my house and upturn my dining chairs and spill coffee grounds in my Keurig? you thought you were safe in your chain mail armor behind that screen of yours. I will take these laminate wood floor boards and destroy you. I didn’t want war. but i didn’t start it.
In 1636 the magistrates of Boston contracted a carpenter named Edward Palmer to build a set of stocks for the punishment of the town’s criminals. He charged £1 and 13 shillings for building the stocks, a price which the magistrates believed was excessively high. Palmer was charged with extortion, ordered to pay a £5 fine, and punished with an hour in the stocks.