As I sit in a monitoring cell today, the Dodgers have the best record in the major leagues. I have no idea how this happened, particularly now with a steady stream of injuries. (An infielder thankfully was taken to the hospital at the right time, avoiding an amputation - I kid you not) They finished yet another sweep of a first-place team, this time the Cards. I'm ready to write another blog about Tommy Lasorda and victory eating, when I read this morning's story:
"Dodger fan beaten as pregnant girlfriend watched in shock."
Son of a bitch...let me guess where this took place...yes, the Dodger Stadium parking lot.
Despite the team's surprising start, last season's opening day crime is still fresh in fan's minds. Last season, fans had plenty of reasons to avoid games, a parking lot beat-down at the top of the list. Yet now, they'd like to think all of those negative aspects, including parking lot insanity, faded away.
The LAPD can call it "road rage" (road rage IN A PARKING LOT?!) or try to pass the buck with quotes like this because...
“In a Dodger season there are 81 games, they will draw 3 million people
and on any given day they can have a sellout with 56,000 people. I don’t
believe that any law enforcement agency or any professional sports team
could guarantee there would never be any type of incident with those
types of numbers,”
AH - I get it. So really, odds are, someone...what, every month or so...will just get roughed up in the least and nearly killed at most because there's too many people? Folks, this time it was fan on fan because that Chevy might have hit that Honda, or was it the other way around? All at 5-10 mph? Of course, this time, there was enough LAPD on the scene to catch the criminals. They were there, likely, because last year someone was nearly killed. Whatever it takes, right?
The perception, however often crimes such as this occur, will be come the reality (correctly or otherwise) to the fan. Not unlike the New York City subways of the 1980s, if fans think the lots are beat down zones, regardless of increased police presence, they'll stay away.
Speaking of trains, last week a friend and I spoke of the joyous news that a new Metro train line now makes it all the way to Culver City. This was good for us on the west end of town - park there, train to downtown, shuttle to the stadium. We talked of good things: saving on parking money, an extra beer...and then the added point "plus, we won't get beat up in the parking lot." "Yeah," he chuckled. I meant it as (mostly) a joke.
I hasten to say it, but this is the new ownership's group first moment to do something positive. And do it quickly. Because eventually (and quietly) if the parking lot turns into an L.A. Raiders game, no matter how good the Dodgers are or become, you won't want to see the results...
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
You might think I'm crazy
The first item on the conveyor belt was a box of Trix. I wasn't trying to proclaim anything in doing so...it was simply on top of the cart.
"Is this for your kid, or is this for you?"
I wasn't expecting to be judged on my grocery purchases. The last time that happened was a decade ago, when I was buying a 12 pack of beer and cheez balls. The cashier said "Beer, cheez balls...what, no cigarettes?" I responded, politely, that I don't work at a supermarket. Was that cold? Harsh?
It gets worse at the drug store. A multitude of personal items can be in your purchase, but you'd never point and laugh at some old guy for buying Depends because, possibly, that could be you one day. My lowest drug store purchase was on a very ill night. I was buying a plunger and Imodium AD. I tried not get the young, cute cashier...but you know what happens...
"How's it going?" (She then looks down at the items)
I've had better days...
Where was I? Right. So, I said no, the Trix are for me. They might be for kids, but I am not a rabbit, so I may also eat them. It is also on sale for $1.80, and I have to make that deal.
"Yeah, but it has a lot of sugar."
Excuse me, Mom. I have no cavities. I get excellent check-ups. I brush after lunch - do you? I didn't think so. I asked if there was an age limit on this cereal, as I clearly was not aware of said rules.
"When you're not a kid..."
Again, in a polite fashion, I said "Well, when I was a kid, my Ma never bought us these cereals. She wanted us to have good teeth, right or wrong. I am now old enough to buy my own groceries, and in some cases items I was not allowed to have as a child...the Trix, the whiskey, too much mac n' cheese. (This week it was priced at normal levels, not overpriced)
Have I, or will I, reach an age where I am not to eat or do certain things? Do grown-ups not enjoy cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Foster's Freeze? I do. Now that I'm out of my 20's, should I stop with the Friday Night Pizza Party? I'd like to keep that going. Too old for a granola bar for breakfast? It might be cheap and easy (two descriptors that used to lead to GOOD THINGS in my youth)...so what? Whole wheat flax seed fiber sticks, guaranteed to "break the bowl?" No thanks. Past the days where it's acceptable to blast The Germs while sitting outside? I don't think so.
It's who I am. And when you live in a place like this, you blend in. Which, after all, is why I'm here. Keep it going...till the sun go down.
"Is this for your kid, or is this for you?"
I wasn't expecting to be judged on my grocery purchases. The last time that happened was a decade ago, when I was buying a 12 pack of beer and cheez balls. The cashier said "Beer, cheez balls...what, no cigarettes?" I responded, politely, that I don't work at a supermarket. Was that cold? Harsh?
It gets worse at the drug store. A multitude of personal items can be in your purchase, but you'd never point and laugh at some old guy for buying Depends because, possibly, that could be you one day. My lowest drug store purchase was on a very ill night. I was buying a plunger and Imodium AD. I tried not get the young, cute cashier...but you know what happens...
"How's it going?" (She then looks down at the items)
I've had better days...
Where was I? Right. So, I said no, the Trix are for me. They might be for kids, but I am not a rabbit, so I may also eat them. It is also on sale for $1.80, and I have to make that deal.
"Yeah, but it has a lot of sugar."
Excuse me, Mom. I have no cavities. I get excellent check-ups. I brush after lunch - do you? I didn't think so. I asked if there was an age limit on this cereal, as I clearly was not aware of said rules.
"When you're not a kid..."
Again, in a polite fashion, I said "Well, when I was a kid, my Ma never bought us these cereals. She wanted us to have good teeth, right or wrong. I am now old enough to buy my own groceries, and in some cases items I was not allowed to have as a child...the Trix, the whiskey, too much mac n' cheese. (This week it was priced at normal levels, not overpriced)
Have I, or will I, reach an age where I am not to eat or do certain things? Do grown-ups not enjoy cheeseburgers and milkshakes at Foster's Freeze? I do. Now that I'm out of my 20's, should I stop with the Friday Night Pizza Party? I'd like to keep that going. Too old for a granola bar for breakfast? It might be cheap and easy (two descriptors that used to lead to GOOD THINGS in my youth)...so what? Whole wheat flax seed fiber sticks, guaranteed to "break the bowl?" No thanks. Past the days where it's acceptable to blast The Germs while sitting outside? I don't think so.
It's who I am. And when you live in a place like this, you blend in. Which, after all, is why I'm here. Keep it going...till the sun go down.
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