every path of progress plugged by a pepperpot

Many years ago I saw an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which they profiled an entity known as a

Pepperpot, n.
Pepperpot is a term created by Monty Python member Graham Chapman to describe a class of character frequently utilized in the group's comedy sketches.

Pepperpots are middle-aged housewives, usually British, portrayed by a male member of the group dressed as a woman and speaking in falsetto.
Courtesy of Wikipedia

And at the time I thought it was an awkward sketch about how annoying old ladies can be. I mean, they're just old ladies, what's so funny.

But now that I deal in the real world and often take up projects that concern the community or the neighborhood, I find myself vexed by these pepperpots!

To explain further, a pepperpot is a crotchety old lady who doesn't like change, or teenagers, or dogs walking past their lawn for fear that they might poop mid-stride.

The pepperpots of the world prevent progress. They say they liked things better the way they were. They have bad taste. They make it a habit to be a nuisance, probably because otherwise no one would have reason to pay them notice.

And now I realize that the fellows that made up Monty Python were probably thwarted by the same type of women in their young lives. I get it now, I get the sketch, it's funny.