"Wade sad Wade" continued to trigger strong emotion in certain readers, but Hilton F. Jones (see below), it's not over yet: Mr. T dispenses more of the etiquette advice you love to hate on p. 34. Alex Pickett's story about angry reactions in the black community to Rays stadium plans drew, yes, an angry reaction, but he was also praised for his piece about endangered historic buildings. Brian Ries' review of Pacific Wave seems to have split readers into two camps; read the comments at tampa.creativeloafing.com/food. Also online this week: Check out our CLTV coverage of the Barack Obama rally, plus some illuminating interviews with young about-to-be voters on thepoliticalwhore.com. And intern Ben Fry is trying to sell his Honda Civic: Help a nice young man reduce his carbon footprint at blurbex.com.
Re "The Rays' toughest crowd?" by Alex Pickett, May 21: African-American Leaders? Who the heck is that? I have never seen you print "European-American Leaders" or "White Leaders." First, let's get beyond the code words. When you say "African-Americans," I am making the leap that you are speaking of Black Americans of African descent and not those hundreds of thousands of White and Arabic Americans of African descent from South Africans to Moroccans. Please don't add to your obvious racism by perpetuating to the stereotype of Black American as mindless stupid sheep being led by an elitist few ensconced in those roles by the White power structure. Black Americans have as many varied and differing views on any topic as the white population or any other group. Yes, SOME Black Americans are suspicious of the Rays plans, but I can promise you that ALL are not. And until you find a topic on which that all Whites share a single opinion, you will be hard pressed to find one on which all Blacks share a common opinion.
Posted by aj
Re "St. Pete's most endangered buildings?" by Alex Pickett, May 21: Great article. It's been obvious for a few years now that St. Petersburg has been blossoming. However, to sustain character, a city must have some sense of history, legacy and local relevance. It's a shame that shortsighted developers can unravel many years of local character with the pursuit of a quick buck. Preservation and distinctive landmarks are what keep cities like ours from becoming an urban residential mall with nothing but luxury condos and ultra-lounges. Isn't there enough of that already? Shouldn't a livable, progressive city strike a unique balance between old and new?
Posted by Big Marty
Re "Bar etiquette (part one)" by Wade Tatangelo, May 21: Wade sad Wade: With all the wallflower pub-crawling disinformation you dispense to your audience (myself included), no bigger amount of hypocritical blather was your statement #10 as "Sucking face" as bad etiquette in an establishment that serves liquor (i.e., bar). What are you, 10? Want to run out of said establishment and report this to the hall monitor? Really now … in ALL of your drunken forays your tongue never ventured out just a bit maybe to your friends' dismay on someone who found you attractive?
Most everyone is adult enough to know PDA's are bound to occur most anywhere. … beaches, parks, bus stops, rock concerts (cemeteries included, just ask anyone who works at The Castle), so why rule them out in bars? What do we really know about the backstory of the couples' kissing anyway? I for one don't feel they are foolish, rather in the heat of the moment or maybe something greater is taking place (reconciliation perhaps?). They are not "fools" as you proclaim but, I would argue, make some of us jealous or uncomfortable because we wouldn't have the cajones to do the same when that moment came to fruition.
Wade, last I checked, no one agreed to your being the moral police (or etiquette ambassador) but, somehow you and your cronies have decided to dole out this postmodern fascist tripe as rules to follow. … now THAT's uncomfortable.
Love 2 ALL, Hilton F. Jones
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2008.
