I didn't want to have to do this.... But
I am a bit stunned by the reactions to my last post, in which I merely quoted a mass e-mail and made a one sentence comment on what I thought of its contents.
(BTW - thanks for caring what this humble sand sculptor thinks.)
You will of course have noticed that every statement I post on this blog has my name on it.
Yet some people feel very comfortable attacking me from behind the mask of anonymity. Even aldermen - elected officials who ought to stand for something - have taken this cowardly route. (I was an English teacher in my former life. Once I have read a sample of your writing I can almost always identify you in subsequent messages.)
You disagree with me? Fine. Think I am an asshole? You're not alone. Wanna tell me to my face? Feel free.
But to do so here in front of google and everybody you are going to have to register first. As of right now -- NO MORE ANONYMOUS DRIVEBYS.
If you truly believe what you are saying, you will sign your name.
Like I do.
-Lucinda
(BTW - thanks for caring what this humble sand sculptor thinks.)
You will of course have noticed that every statement I post on this blog has my name on it.
Yet some people feel very comfortable attacking me from behind the mask of anonymity. Even aldermen - elected officials who ought to stand for something - have taken this cowardly route. (I was an English teacher in my former life. Once I have read a sample of your writing I can almost always identify you in subsequent messages.)
You disagree with me? Fine. Think I am an asshole? You're not alone. Wanna tell me to my face? Feel free.
But to do so here in front of google and everybody you are going to have to register first. As of right now -- NO MORE ANONYMOUS DRIVEBYS.
If you truly believe what you are saying, you will sign your name.
Like I do.
-Lucinda
Labels: south padre island
posted by Lucinda at 8:54 PM
7 Comments:
go for it, girl!
As noted by Chris in the previous post, some items offered for sale can be clearly a violation of the law, while others as a matter of taste, a gray area. As Chris says, some of that gear they sell at the T-shirt shops is tacky in the extreme, and not good stuff for kids in the impressionable 8-14 year old bracket, maybe younger for girls.
This is actually a very good discussion.
Now let me play "devil's advocate" for a minute and please don't confuse that with my true values. The single reason why that questionable, tacky stuff is being put on the racks is because it sells.
Those big-box T-shirt shops look dead and empty but in Spring Break and the peak summer months, sales go absolutely crazy. The kids all have to get a shot glass and a T-shirt that says something like "I got [expletive deleted] on SPI."
No, no, the kids are not going to buy tasteful beach shirts such as 80-dollar floral silk prints. For about 10 bucks they can get a cheap plastic beer bong in addition to the shot glass and nasty T-shirt.
Further ... and hold the values discussion, folks ... it is a multi-million dollar business, selling all that schlock. Figure in not only gross sales but the value of the land, the payroll, the taxes, and whatnot. In fact, the industry has a local name but I am not at liberty to say it on a public discussion board.
Now those T-shirt shops, not all mind you but WE KNOW, have wild and crazy paint jobs, suggestive pictures of semi-nekked women, and sell X-rated junk. The Town has definitely made some progress on cleaning up the image but these rascals persist worse than a bad case of Head Lice (if you were ever a parent or teacher you would sympathize here).
So I think it is a good idea to keep up the momentum to clean up the Island's image, and as the complexion of the SPI tourist changes in the future I think much of that questionable schlock will go by the wayside, as it won't sell as well. I have no quarrell there.
However, recall that even while we market the Island for its family values and laid-back lifestyle, selling the beach is rather like being suggestive of S-E-X. People don't come down here to wear business suits, they like to wear as few clothes as possible and check each other out. And there's more good looking people with all the bulges in the right place right here on SPI ... yipes!
The question is how to deal with that dynamic in terms of what we sell to the public. If you will recall, I was the one who made the biggest fuss over the "Who's Your Padre" media campaign, since I thought that type of marketing was lewd in the extreme - not to mention it probably boosted sales of beer bongs, shot glasses, and dirty T-shirts.
/sammie
Thank you sooo much for the no more drive by crap.
we have and will always sign our post
Sandy, we rarely agree, but I respect your opinion. I DO feel that you should block anyone who can't or won't sign their name to a post. If you are going to say it, put your name on it. Good decision, kudos.
Regards- MLeahy
I agree with your reasoning, but this action still won't give you any idea of a person's identity. They can enter any name they want to when they sign up. Guess it will be interesting to see the names people will give themselves.
Yes! And once all those anonymice start naming themselves they will also begin to distinguish themselves from other anonymice in spite of themselves over time -- should they write more than once, of course.
just wandering--other nancy m -- Sandy knows who I am.
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