UPDATE: ABANDONED CAR GONE, SINK HOLE GROWS

A few weeks back, GEORGE WEBER....THE NEWS GUY, captured a few shots of what appeared to be an abandoned clunker of a car swallowed by a sink hole in Cobble Hill.



After turning in a police report about the abandoned vehicle, the car is now gone, but the hole is still there....and bigger than ever.



Neighbors tell me the gaping hole was filled in with asphalt, but that it re-opened to form an even larger, more frightening looking glimpse into hell.

PIC OF THE WEEK: DEAD CAT

Imagine the grief on the face of the owner of the black cat that was squished and killed by a van on a Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn street corner. The good Samaritan decided to announce to the world what happened to the feline drifter. When pets go missing, owners often wonder about their fate. Are they in the pound? Did someone catnap the animal? Was it hit by a car? You think the worse.

Man, I'd hate to be walking down the street and find a notice of my pets death posted on a telephone pole. I'm sure whoever posted the bill thought it was the right thing to do. What might have been better, had they been so caring and concerned was to scoop the dead cat off the street and take it to New York City's Animal Care and Control, rather than leaving it to rot in the street. They keep track of the animals they pick up, dead or alive. It's the first place you should call when your pet wanders away and it's likely the owner of the missing cat would have checked in to inquire about the cats whereabouts.

DO YOU REALLY KNOW THE ICE CREAM TRUCK MAN?

Have you noticed how the quality of the ice cream truck man has gone down hill in recent years. These days, just about any schlep can drive an ice cream truck, even teenagers and in one case in my neighborhood, a big fat, ugly Caribbean woman wearing a dirty tank top. What ever happened to the friendly men wearing freshly pressed white outfits with those ice cream truck man hats? The Good Humor guy use to dress up like that. It showed some sense of authority, trust, respect and quality.



But, this summer, I've noticed an alarming number of ice cream truck drivers doing more than just selling frozen treats. Many have been dealing drugs to kids right out of their truck windows. Some have even been busted for child molestation. Many communities across the country are trying to get their local governments to require background checks on the ice cream truck people. So, I've now compiled a sample of the sort of thing we find ice cream truck drivers doing these days, thanks to a handy Google search. Most of these occurred in the past two years. Others date back as far as 1998.



* Bensonhurst, New York: Instead of selling Rocket pops, Batman bars and Fudgesicles, these guys were peddling drugs. Cops thought something was amiss when they noticed not one, but four teenagers running the ice cream business out of the truck in this Brooklyn neighborhood. Seven people in all were arrested for selling or buying pot and hash from the truck's window.

* Washington, DC: Residents complained that the ice cream truck man was driving around Capitol Hill late at night serving up treats. But, they also noted, they never saw any children run up to the truck. Indeed, when police checked it out they found the guy was selling drugs and booze to older teenagers.

* South West Michigan: Cops busted the ice cream truck man for selling marijuana to children in the region. The name of his ice cream truck company: "Nice Dreams," as in the Cheech N' Chong movie.



* Queens, New York: Last summer in Queens, this bold ice cream truck driver parked his Mister Softee truck right in front of a local Middle school. The 26 year old driver was busted for stashing cocaine and pot between two paper cups he would hand the young customers. Police also found a .380 caliber pistol in his truck. Tough neighborhood!

* Brownsville, Texas: Parked in front of O'Grady Elementary school for two summers, this ice cream truck man had a captive audience. Police say the drug dealing driver was selling $5 and $10 dollar bags of marijuana to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. The driver was also a Mexican national, in this country illegally. He was arrested and deported.

* Spring Hill, Florida: This summer in Spring Hill, Florida, a 34- year-old ice cream truck driver was busted after completing his route. His truck was pulled off to the side of the road and he was smoking a joint. He also admitted pounding down five bottles of beer.



* San Antonio, Texas: This guy was quite the businessman. For three years, he was the main drug dealer at a local high school. He parked his ice cream truck in front of the school almost year round (it's hot in Texas). But, this was one trendy drug dealing ice cream truck man. Besides serving up pot and cocaine, this 40-year-old driver was also selling Xanex and other prescription medications.

* Albuquerque, New Mexico: A 21 year old ice cream truck man was busted for selling drugs out of his truck. This was the second time in two months cops had arrested a driver from the same ice cream truck company.

* Falls Church, Virgina: A Good Humor driver was arrested after police watched him for three days dealing drugs out of his truck.



* Bridgewater, New Jersey: This was no ordinary drug bust. As a matter of fact, the local police ended a month long undercover operation to bust the driver of this ice cream truck. It was called "Operation Double Dip." They arrested the ice cream truck man as he was attempting to deal drugs to children in front of a Bridgewater elementary school.

PLEASE.....DON'T KILL THE PIG!

Well, they did. Yup, hundreds of nice folks came out to Wantagh park in Long Island for the annual Make-A-Wish Foundation picnic. Highlighting the diverse menu was pork, as in the kind from a pig, like the one they suspended over coals and roasted.
Let me just say it was tender AND delicious. Unfortunately, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, its organizers and this blog were inundated with protest emails from animal rights activists and Vegans.



"Hi George - I found your blog when I was looking this Make-a-Wish event up, as I had gotten an email on it, and always check things out before commenting. The Make-a-Wish Foundation is a wonderful organization. I have donated, and know of people that it helped. I am a vegetarian," begins one email.

"While I am not militant in my actions, and try not to impose my views on others, I do have strong convictions. This is a family event. The idea of having a whole pig like that is cruel. Why someone would think that would be family type entertainment is, frankly, beyond my understanding," she continues.



What does a "family" event have to do with it? There are plenty of families around the country, who live on farms and in rural communities who derive most of their food from livestock. They get eggs from hens, milk and beef from cows, pork from pigs and they chase down a turkey on Thanksgiving, chop its head off, pluck the feathers, cook it up and eat it. Believe it or not, those nice, blood red fillets you see in the supermarket come from cows! And guess what, they're dead!

"I have 2 boys, and yep, they eat meat. It's their choice. Vegetarianism is mine. For an organization that is all about compassion, this act does not seem very compassionate to me. Have a barbecue, offer vegetarian options for those who may not want meat, or may want to try them. But a whole pig?"



Oh, so her children DO eat meat.....and where do they think that meat came from, a tree? God forbid, if her children ever saw Mom picking fruit from a tree. How cruel. Where's the compassion for the passion fruit? In case you were wondering, the pig was roasted, primarily before the event began and out of sight of any young or offending eyes. The pig was sliced into nice, tender, non-offending morsels and placed on lovely platters for serving. And, indeed there was more than just pork. Besides the burgers and dogs, the buffet table was filled with pastas, salads and yes, even fruit.



"I know the first time I saw a pig like that, is was pretty disturbing, and I ate meat at the time. So maybe there are better options?"

Better options? Like a salad bar? Come on, snap out of it. Prior to supermarkets, where the meat is presented in pleasant to look at slabs, us humans would hunt for our food. That meant killing live animals and eating the cooked flesh (meat as you know it.) Hunters do that today, some for sport and many for survival.

A few years ago, I spent Thanksgiving with a Colorado family that owned a rural farm. The morning before the big feast, the three children would go out to the turkey coop and select a plump looking bird.



They even had names. Little Sarah piped up, "Let's eat Benny." 8-year-old Brandon pouted, "Sarah picked last year. I want Tom (the turkey)." Jessica countered, "he's not big enough." Once they picked the bird, it would be released in the pen and the children would chase it down, catch it and give it to dad to chop off its head. Still, running around (like a chicken with its head cut off), Dad picked up the turkey and hung it upside down to drain the blood. The next day, the turkey would be skinned and prepped for meal time.



I'll be attending next year's charity picnic and I would encourage your children to come out and take a look at the pig while it's being roasted, just so they know, where the other white meat really comes from.

SAVING LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL

Long Island College Hospital(LICH) is my hospital. It's in the neighborhood, but it's going through some belt tightening, because quite frankly it's losing money. I've never been a big fan of its emergency room, or any emergency room, for that matter, because you always end up waiting forever. But, that aside, they do a pretty good job over at LICH. But, the other day, I received a letter from the hospital detailing a series of cutbacks. The letter appears to be in response to what LICH says are rumors that prompted community outrage and a campaign to "Save Our Hospital."



The biggest move is the elimination of the hospital's OB/GYN department. It seems delivering babies is killing the bottom line. LICH cites over 11-million dollars in losses in the department, much of it due to malpractice lawsuits and the insurance needed to cover it. That amounted to one third of the hospitals total losses. The insurance alone in OB/GYN $8.8 million.



Long Island College Hospital is also downsizing, selling off several of it's buildings on Henry and Amity streets in Cobble Hill. They're licensed to operate 500beds, but only 350 are currently occupied. In this category, LICH was somewhat vague, suggesting the number of beds would be cut back as well, but revealing no details. The hospital also insists, despite rumors, it's not shutting down its emergency room.



I'm not quite sure what brought all of this on. They don't really speculate. But, it wouldn't surprise me, if the overall economy had an impact. As more and more people lose their jobs, fewer people have health insurance. That means, the hospital ends up picking up the tab and because a rising number of people are broke, they're not paying the bills.

BUSTED FOR DRINKING A BEER IN MY LIVING ROOM!

The city’s open-container law prohibits anyone from drinking an alcoholic beverage, or possessing and intending to drink from an open container containing an alcoholic beverage, in any public place. So, could my living room be a public place, well read on.

The law defines a public place as one "to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access, including, but not limited to,' a sidewalk, street or park."
Several people this summer have been issued tickets for "drinking in public," when indeed, they were on the stoops of their Brownstone buildings in Brooklyn. The police consider stoops "public places." Why? Because, they are in clear public view. But, the law specifically uses the word access.



The public does not have the right to access my stoop, which I consider private property. So, if my shades are drawn open and I'm sitting in my living room sipping a glass of wine or a Heineken, do the police have the right to issue me a summons for "drinking in public.?"



Kimber VanRy made headlines a few weeks ago, when he was busted for drinking in public. The 39-year-old sales manager goes to court on November 12 to fight his ticket. But, unfortunately, his case is a little different from the others. When a cop pulled in front of his home in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, Vanry stepped off his stoop with his beer to talk to the officer. Ooops! Technically, at this point he was indeed in a public place....on a sidewalk.



A few months back, a New York court upheld a ticket handed to someone drinking in the interior lobby of an apartment building. (not the one to the right) Why? Because, the police told the judge, the beer drinker could be seen from the street drinking the adult beverage. This raises questions about patios, rooftop decks and yes, even living rooms. In my case, the bedroom faces the street and I suppose if my drapes were open and I decided to drink a beer while writing this blog on my computer, someone could see me "drinking in public."



The cops in the 77th precinct, where VanRy was ticketed, insist they haven't launched a major stoop drinking crackdown. They claim it's totally random. Fine. The penalty for such a heinous violation is a paltry $25.00. Nothing to get really upset about. But, VanRy is screaming from his window, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." He goes to court in two months, because he says it's a matter of principle. VanRy won't win, because he walked his beer to the sidewalk where the police car was parked. If cops start ticketing people drinking on porches, back decks and living rooms, I assure you I'll join the "I'm not going to take it anymore" crowd.

"REAL WORLD" CAN'T HACK THE REAL WORLD OF BROOKLYN

The blogs are abuzz with reported sightings (including pictures) of cast members from MTV's Real World, which is filming it's 17th season in Brooklyn. Thing is, most of those spottings weren't in Brooklyn, but in Manhattan. The season should be renamed, "Real World: Manhattan."

According to the blogs, the cast has been spotted at Manhattan's trendy eatery Cafeteria, the touristy Hawaiian Tropic Zone,



the nightclub Rebel and the East Village dive, Angels & Kings. Nary a spotting of them in Brooklyn, unless you count their walk in Prospect Park or their visit to a Crunch Gym in Fort Greene. The thing is, bar and restaurant owners in Brooklyn don't want any part of the "Real World." In order to allow a crew of eight to film in the bars, the owners have to sign a waiver. This allows filming and forces them into silence and secrecy. They've gotten very few bites.



They don't even spend much time in Red Hook, except walking in and out of their Pier 41 loft to hop a van or car to visit a Manhattan location. At the local hangout, Bait & Tackle, owner Eddie Stone told AM NEW YORK "This is going to be the realest Real World ever because the regulars at bars like mine are going to treat the cast like crap.” Sunny's is perhaps the most popular of Red Hooks bars. It's been there since the 1800's and sits not far from the cast's loft on the Brooklyn waterfront.
But, Sunny has gone as far to tell the MTV cast and crew they are not allowed in his bar.



One blog captured the group's debauchery at a Fashion week event at the club Rebel. There, cast member Chet Bannon can be seen kanoodling with America's Next Top Model" winner Whitney Thompson. You see, Bannon is reportedly a Mormon and producers have alledgedly encouraged his cast members to get the Mormon kid laid. Not sure if that's happened yet, but they have 13 episodes to work on it.

DO SOMETHING NICE FOR CHARITY

Looking for something to do this weekend? Want to help out a worthwhile charity at the same time? Then, look no further than the 3rd annual benefit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation at Long Island's Wantagh Park this Sunday, September 21. Every year, hundreds of people block to one of the picnic areas in the park to be entertained and fed. A pig roast highlights the event, along with an assortment of BBQ goodies, salads and plenty of cool refreshments. They have a huge raffle with some pretty cool giveaways.



Bring the kids, because there will magic shows and a variety of entertainment, including some great music. But, I've got a better reason. For the second year, I'll be emceeing the event. For those of you who have never been there, the park sits on the Merrick Bay in between Wantagh and Jone's Beach. The weather is supposed to be spectacular.

The easiest way to get there is on the Long Island Railroad. Take it to the Wantagh station, walk across the street to the car service business and you're five minutes away. Or, before you hop in the car, drop by the Wantagh Inn on the corner, a local institution. Or, if you're driving. Take the Southern State Parkway to Exit 27 South (Wantagh Parkway). Exit off the Wantagh Parkway at Sunrise Highway East. Make a right onto Wantagh Avenue. Take to the end and make right onto Merrick Road. At first light make a left into park.



Organizers suggest a $30 donation for the event, all of which benefits the local chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hope to see you there.

TEENCY, WEENCY, LITTLE CARS INVADE BROOKLYN

You've probably noticed one of these little buggers scooting around town. After selling more than a million of them in European cities, SmartUSA has introduced its SMART fourtwo to the United States. This one pictured to the left was spotted on Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens. But, as prices continue to soar and personal budgets are being cut because of the economy, folks are eating these tiny cars up.

At a starting price of $11,590, the SMART fourtwo is just 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet high and 5.1 feet wide. Translated, that means you could park two of these things lengthwise in the average New York City parking space. Even more remarkable, at just five feet wide, you could double park two of them, or by pulling the SMART car in sideways, you could easily park three of them in one 9 X 18ft space.



Designed by Mercedes engineers, the SMART car gets 33mpg in the city and an estimated 41 mpg on the highway. Top speed is 90mph.

Here's a preview of the 2009 SMART models from the company's website:

"The 2009 smart fortwo will begin production this fall! The new 2009 models will introduce two new colors to make your smart fortwo even more exciting. The smart fortwo will still convey the innovation, functionality and joy of life that defines each and every smart fortwo.

For the exterior, the 2009 smart fortwo will introduce two new colors – a sporty and intense “rally red”, and a cool and elegant “gray metallic”. These two colors will replace the 2008 “light yellow” and “red metallic” colors, though the discontinued colors will still be available through your local smart center as replacement panels or full bodypanel freshup kits.



On the interior of the vehicle, new door nets will replace the solid storage areas on the driver and passenger doors. The flexible door nets will offer a bigger and more functional storage area for you and your passenger. Finally, the LCD display of instrument cluster will now including a Loose Gas Cap Indicator light to warn the driver when the fuel tank cap is not fully closed."

YOUNG BLACK MALES

( Pictured at left: Young Black Males who best we can tell were not the muggers or for that matter have never mugged anyone. Read the story and you'll understand.)

I've lived in New York City now for 11-years and I can happily say, I've never been mugged. I've known a few people who have been robbed and I'm aware of a few muggings even in my nice neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Below is the story of a guy who nearly took on one of two thugs who beat up and robbed a neighbor on his street in Prospect Heights. It comes from the Brooklynian blog. I'll let him tell the story.



"So I just witnessed a mugging and I am all shook up and have to vent. Actually, I'm pissed off. First, I'm pissed because I didn't do more. Second, I'm pissed because this happened right in front of where I live. And finally, I'm pissed because it is so fucking stereoTYPICAL that it feeds the worst thoughts in all of us.

I leave my front door (I dont want to be too specific, but I'm very close to Flatbush) and start walking my dog down the block. I notice 2 YBMs running down the opposite side of the street. My first impression was "what the fuck are they up to?" then I think "whatever, just goofing off". About 5 seconds later, I hear a yell from behind me. I turn, and there are the 2 guys standing over someone who's laying on the sidewalk.

So, I start walking toward them and yell something like "What are you doing?". One of them runs off and the other, older guy (mid 20s?), Starts sauntering towards me yelling "Ya want some too?" When he gets closer I notice he doesn't have a weapon. He shrugs and crosses the street. I think they got in a car and sped off, but I'm not sure because I went to go check on the guy laying in the pool of blood.

When I get to the victim, he's bleeding from his nose and his lip. He's an average sized white male in his early 30s. He's dazed and bloody, but seems ok, considering. They took his wallet with 42 bucks in it. He still had his cell phone on him. He calls a friend, I call 911. My wife comes out with papertowels, ice and a cup of water. The cops come en mass.. like 4 cars and 10 guys plus an abmulance and ask questions. Of course, what can we say? 2 YBMs, one in a red hoodie jumped him and got away. So fucking typical it's sad.

I wish I had gotten a look to see where they went, license number etc.
I wish I had the courage to stomp the macho one that came up to me.
I wish my dog was a pitbull, not a mini schnauzer
I wish the 3-4 people standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the victim had stepped in too.. maybe we could have held the guys.
I wish the cops came sooner so they had a chance of catching someone
I wish the perps weren't black and the victim wasn't white
I wish this had never happened"

BAD NEIGHBORS

The other day, I was curious about loft prices these days in New York City and while checking out craigslist, I came across a building in Brooklyn's Bushwick, a place called the McKibbin lofts, a pair of old warehouse buildings facing each other.
But, this story isn't so much about loft living, as it is about 20-something hipster types trying to find their way in the big city, very much like the artists of the 60's and 70's did in Manhattan's East Village. So, I stumble upon the following open letter to the people who kept him up half the night. Enjoy!

This is a letter to the very loud couple from what I believe is the third floor of my building:

I heard your argument last night. Or should I say this morning, at 5am? It doesn’t really matter. Let me just start by saying “Bravo.” Really, I’m impressed. I didn’t think it was possible for two people to cram so much idiocy into the space of a thirty-minute yelling match, but boy did you prove me wrong.

I must admit, at first I was slightly interested in what was causing such horrendous noise. Then, once you became loud enough for me to start making out every word you were saying, I was amused at how comically juvenile you are.

This didn’t last long though. You see, elevated voices clearly weren’t enough for you. No, you needed to start screaming. This was ok, everyone needs to scream now and then. But I started to lose patience after the thirtieth or fortieth high-pitched loud-as-fuck repetition of, and I quote, “I FUCKING HATE YOU SO BAD.” Ignoring for a second the fact that this statement contains a grammatical mistake we learn to correct in the fourth grade, I—no, wait, I can’t ignore that. Honestly, how old are you, 12?

And then there’s the slightly important fact that it was 5 am. That’s five in the morning. On a Sunday night. You know about Mondays, right? You know about jobs? Quite clearly you don’t, so let me explain: you see, I’m sure it’s nice being a worthless scum-of-the-earth hipster shit-stain whose parents pay for everything, but some of us have responsibilities in the morning. You know, like work, and school.

Of course, if it was just me you had woken up, I could forgive you, despite the fact that it took me over an hour to fall back asleep. But you woke my roommates up too. And the guests we had sleeping in our common room. You woke up the kids who live across the hall from us. You live here; you should know that our walls are little more than mouse-eaten cardboard. And seeing as you eventually took your argument into what I can only assume was the stairwell, which echoes wonderfully and is, naturally, a conduit to the rest of the premises, I am going to go ahead and figure that you probably woke up the entire fucking building, you loud stupid whore.

I feel bad for your boyfriend, honestly. If you were as quiet as he was you wouldn’t even have woken me. Johnny, was his name? You screamed it numerous times, but between your choking sobs and clear mental retardation I had a hard time making it out for sure.
There are plenty of fish in the sea, Johnny, and you had to go and pick the only bird. Get out while you still can.

So, girl, let me sum up what I know about you from what I heard last night: you are a very loud, obnoxious idiot whose complete show of disregard and lack of respect for those around you underlies an utterly disgusting level of self-centeredness. You clearly can’t function in society (and shouldn’t be allowed to anyways), and so my suggestion is you go back home to Staten Island, or straight to Hell. They’re pretty much the same place anyways.




Quite funny, I thought. So, I did some further research and found out that this building is notorious for it's raucous, 20-something parties. Sounds like a fun place, if you don't want to sleep and smell like crap in the morning. But, here's what the New York Times had to say about this little gem of a loft building.

"Who cares if the walls are paper thin and people honk saxophones and bang drums at 3 a.m., when a band and audience can be assembled without leaving home? So what if bedbugs ravage all of one’s earthly belongings if it means couch surfing with the cute painter in Apartment 2F? And if people’s iPods and cellphones mysteriously vanish after nonresidents visit Potion, the McKibbin’s in-house coffee shop, what of it? That just means the McKibbin is keeping it real."


Even, Wikipedia takes up an entire page on a crummy looking loft building in a not so desirable neighborhood.

"255 McKibbin St. is a five-story residential loft building and in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Each of its five floors is subdivided into 16 apartment units, ranging in size from approximately 400 to 2500 square feet (five units between the first and second floors are duplexes). Approximately 200 tenants in 75 units inhabit 255 McKibbin Street. The building has a reputation for hosting raucous all-night "loft parties." Given this, and the preponderance of twentysomething recent college graduates living in 255 McKibbin Street, the building has been given the nickname "the McKibbin Street dorm."

FED ANNOUNCES $10 MILLION DOLLAR LOAN TO RESCUE GEORGE WEBER

Hey, if the government can bail out multi-billion dollar corporations, why not the rest of us. I could use a little extra money these days. So could Joe, the guy who runs a little Bodega on Smith street in Carroll Gardens. His rent is about to double and he can't afford it. He may lose everything.



Shock waves hit Wall Street this week, when the government announced it would bail out America's fourth largest insurance company, AIG. The Fed will loan AIG a staggering 84 billion dollars. Not too shabby for fucking up the company. Earlier, the government came to the rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac---giving them a financial boost to keep doling out mortgages. Several other banks were taken over by the feds. Then, banking giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy without government financial aid. I'm sure its CEO will resign out of embarrassment and then get a cushy multi-million dollar golden parachute for his miserable performance. That's the American way of life. That's capitalism at its best.



Don't get me wrong, I'm a big believer in capitalism. Hell, the Chinese are finally getting it. But, how many more major corporations are going to go belly up because of sour loan deals and a bad economy. I hear Washington Mutual may be next in line asking for Uncle Sam's help. Our Treasury Secretary has insisted there will be no more bail outs, but just you wait. I don't think that's the final word on the matter. He still reports to the President and to a certain extent Congress.



So let's review. The federal government has loaned or donated hundreds of billions of dollars already to banks and the like. We're paying a bundle for two wars in the Middle East and now the men who want to be in the White House plan on giving Americans ANOTHER tax break. I'd like to know where the government is secretly growing those money trees my grandmother kept talking about when I was a kid. I like Mayor Bloomberg's idea. RAISE TAXES. He figures you charge people a fortune to drive and they might just give up the car and take the train: save the environment and yourself money at the same time.

BE BOLD....GO BALD FOR CANCER

Frank Morano, Staten Island's Independence Party muckety-muck and WABC Radio producer is once again going to get a baldy. He'll be chopping off his air this Sunday at Lee's Tavern in Staten Island.



It's part of the St. Baldricks Foundation, which raises money for children with canceer. So far, Lee's has raised over $5,300 in pledges. It's not too late to pledge, so if you'd like you click on the link for Frank and St.Baldricks and help out.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ParticipantKey=2008-54779

NO ONE'S LISTENING....

I walked into a packed Angry Wade's bar last night hoping to find John McCain's speech from the Republican National Convention on the T.V I lucked out. It was on all of the big screen T.V's and the volume was cranked up, but what amazed me was that no one was listening. Well, that's not exactly true. Some people were listening, including me.



Down the bar, some ditsy girls were giggling over something, their eyes firmly planted on the frat guys doing shots at one of the tables. One guy was so drunk, he was conked out, head down on the bar. Four people were playing darts. Two others were playing pool while about a dozen patrons looked on. Every stool was occupied.



Those who were interested in McCain's prime-time speech were a healthy mix of supporters and opponents, albeit a small group. Some cheered, others nodded in agreement while a few shouted something along the lines of, "war monger." One guy was trying to engage me in an argument over politics, while McCain was speaking. It was annoying. He finally shut up.



There must have been 60 or so people in the bar and I was amazed at how few really cared about what he was saying or that he was saying anything at all. I'd venture a guess when Barack Obama gave his speech, they didn't pay him much attention either. These are the people who perhaps will never be concerned about politics. They probably haven't even given much thought to the direction our country is going or who would be best to take us there. Like most bars, a majority of the crowd was young. That's still no excuse. What's really sad is, the next day someone will probably ask them what they thought of the speech. They'd probably reply, I didn't watch it. That's not exactly true. It's just that no one was listening!