No Hemorrhoids, Please!
CL Editor Mark Kemp’s note about the new covers (“From the Editor,” Feb. 15) reminded me of my reaction to one of them — from the “Lust List” issue — with the giant lips, close-up, of a man and a woman. According to Kemp, who’s proud of this development, they are “more visually fun and interesting.”
When I first saw that photo, I thought the cover story was about the hog farms down east, then upon closer inspection decided it was a new development in advertising: a full-cover ad possibly about Burma Shave. After reading the headline, I understood what CL was trying to do but my gut was screaming they failed.
For God’s sake, please don’t do a cover story about hemorrhoids.
— John Clark, Charlotte
Editing while Impaired
The editorial inconsistency of Creative Loafing has gotten entirely out of hand. In a rag that regularly takes Sue Myrick to task for her efforts in cracking down on DWIs within Charlotte’s illegal immigrant community, Tricia Childress’ latest Food and Drink column (“Fox in the Henhouse,” Feb. 15) smacks of absolute hypocrisy.
First and foremost, Food and Drink is an entirely inappropriate forum for the topic. Childress is a taster, not a thinker; her current screed is based on wholesale generalization and supposition, nothing that resembles verifiable fact.
Restaurant employees already have to contend with alcohol certification. Most corporate restaurants maintain in-house programs for this purpose. For example, Landry’s Restaurants Inc., owner of Joe’s Crabshack and Rainforest Café, among others, requires TIPS (To Insure Prompt Service) certification. Similarly, Rare Hospitality, the parent of such chains as Longhorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille, certifies its employees via a course called Bar Code. Both programs are specifically designed to educate servers and bartenders in the appropriate methods of handling alcohol.
This article is a blatant piece of hack journalism, relying on opinion and assumption with no real sources apparent. Childress, obviously stuck for quality material, has resorted to tabloid tactics of controversy and sensationalism to generate filler. And in printing it, the editors of Creative Loafing have once again proven left-wingers have as much capacity for knee-jerk paranoia and reactionary scare tactics as their conservative counterparts.
— Justin Crouse, Charlotte
Tricia Childress responds: Ironically, the unnamed server mentioned in the first part of my piece works for one of the restaurants Crouse cites as having a certification course. (The server’s arrest information is public information.) My intention wasn’t to point fingers at a particular person or restaurant; it was to bring awareness to the bigger problem of alcohol abuse by alcohol servers.
Shame on Sue
On Friday, Feb. 10, a couple dozen people gathered in front of Congresswoman Sue Myrick’s office on Morrison Boulevard with the intention of letting her know their displeasure with the corruption scandals she herself and her party are involved with. The protesters, of which I was one, were upset with Myrick’s acceptance of $238,000 from the pharmaceutical companies who are the ones benefiting unfairly from the new Medicare prescription drug bill, and also with the $5,000 Ms. Myrick received from Tom DeLay. However upset, the protesters were peaceful and civil and simply wanted some attention to their concerns from their public official. An emissary, an 18-year-old voter, went up to the office building with an armful of petitions, only to be turned away. Myrick’s office, the guard said, was private property. And we thought Sue Myrick held public office! We were wrong. It is not the people of Charlotte that Sue Myrick represents. To us, her office is closed.
— Yelena Franklin, Charlotte
I was one of 25 constituents who showed up outside of Rep. Myrick’s office to bring attention to the Republican corruption scandals. Volunteers read statements, collected petition signatures, and held signs and posters to call attention to the corruption issue.
An 18-year-old student attempted to bring the signed petitions into Rep. Myrick’s office in Charlotte, and was told by a posted security guard that he could not enter the building; a retiree, believing she had the right to visit her Representative’s office, then tried to walk the petitions up to office and was threatened with arrest if she tried to enter the building.
Our members have paid visits to Rep. Watt’s office, Rep. Spratt’s office and Rep. Hayes’ office, who have an open-door policy with their constituents. If these Representatives’ staffers are willing to meet with their constituents over these issues, why aren’t Myrick’s? Rep. Myrick should understand that she is a representative of the all people, not just those who agree with her.
— Diane Frederick, Charlotte
Department of Corrections
A story in the Feb. 8 issue omitted House of Representatives District 8 candidate Mark Ortiz. Ortiz, who ran unsuccessfully in the district’s 2004 Democratic primary, also wants to unseat US Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2006.
