If a 9-year-old boy – or girl for that matter – decides to play soccer at Woodward Park in the buff or walk down Yosemite Avenue naked as a jay bird they would not be breaking any Manteca municipal law.

That’s because Manteca ordinance No. 1274 specifically precludes anyone from under 10 years of age being subject to a prohibition of such behavior.

The reason there is such an ordinance on the books stems from repeated incidents in 2004 when a woman was sunbathing naked in her yard in clear view of the playground behind the Manteca Boys & Girls Club. Law enforcement has asked that she refrain from doing so but then quickly found out there was no law against being nude not just in plain view of the public but also in public areas such as parks, walking down the street or – heaven forbid – City Council meetings.

In a town that manned the barricades just 10 years earlier to go after a porn shop that had opened down the street from Golden West School, public nudity was neglected at the time as something that city leaders should regulate.

The council might want to revisit Ordinance No. 1274 for a pre-emptive rewrite and lower that age to 5 or less. The reason is simple. As one San Francisco nudist said the other day, “hardly anyone practices nudity etiquette anymore.”

Such etiquette presumably includes not having your children walk nude around town. It definitely includes, according to the nudist TV crews interviewed, making sure you lay down a towel or other covering down on a public chair or bench before you sit.

This is not making many folks in San Francisco happy campers especially when they use bus seats, benches and even sidewalk café tables where nudists may just have parked their behinds.

So in a city where almost anything goes, there is a movement afoot to come back a bit from the edge.

San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener is pushing for a city law requiring nudists to cover public seating before sitting down as well as to put clothes on before entering restaurants.

As bizarre as it may sound, more than a few nudists find this offensive as they say it is taking away their rights. Well, what about the rights of others to not have to worry about health-related issues?

Nudists outraged about having to put a towel down before they park it on a seat at a sidewalk café operate under the assumption their rights are absolute.

You’ll notice no one is saying outlaw public nudity in San Francisco.

The problem of the slippery slope in this case isn’t government regulation chipping away at rights. By abandoning common sense etiquette nudists are bringing it on themselves.

The proposal law isn’t the outgrowth of some right-wing moralist nut politician – as many like to call those who push social or cultural agenda that are conservative to a degree. This is coming from a fairly liberal leader who represents the Castro District which isn’t exactly Mayberry.

Civilization – at least when it works – is a great compromise. That is why no right is ever absolute. At the same time rights – the right to health and safety and the right to free expression – often conflict.

The funny thing is if San Francisco bars nudists from sitting au naturel on public seating they will be more conservative than Manteca when it comes to where anyone under the age of 10 years can legally plop their uncovered bottom on a park bench, a transit bus seat or possibly even a seat in the council chambers.