Wanting it both ways
I see that the Salt + Straw ice cream magnate, Kim Malek, is threatening to pull her company kitchen out of Portland because there's too much crime here, particularly down by that production facility, at Southeast Second and Ash in the Central Eastside industrial district. Her complaints became public last week, after a bum RV blew up outside the place and one of her workers had a gun pointed at his head.
Over the weekend Malek drew a lot of hoots and cat calls from the right-wingers, mainly because she has proudly served for years on the board of something called the Oregon Justice Resource Center. That organization, part of the nonprofit industrial complex that controls City Hall, seems dedicated to defunding the cops, opening up the prisons, expunging all criminal records, and letting everyone go free without bail after they're arrested. That may be an exaggeration, but no more than a slight one.
The nastiness of the critics aside, they do have a point. As Portland's pendulum has swung way over to the lawless side, organizations like the Oregon Justice Resource Center have been demanding that the place become ever more uncivilized. Until every societal wrong is rectified to their satisfaction, they want society dismantled brick by brick. And they're getting bang-up results in über-liberal Portlandia, as well as in the state capital, Salem.
It's time to start the swing back in the opposite direction. Maybe Malek can help, if she is willing to wise up and acknowledge the inconsistencies in her public posturing over the years. But as far as her current predicament is concerned, well, you reap what you sow.
Bravo
ReplyDeleteI saw that too Jack. Not a big ice cream fan, but I couldn’t fail to find so humor in the situation. Especially given how hard it must be to operate ANY business in Portland with all of the loonies here looking to be offended by every little thing.
ReplyDeleteI posted it in Craigslist “rants” (which I never do... but hey, someone had to read it), and every reply to me was rude as they failed to even recognize that it was absurd satire. Here it is:
So long colonizers. So the city isn’t safe for your employees anymore.....well how do you think the people that run the chop-shops all over town feel? Their livelihoods are being threatened by the city’s pledge to crack down on the unhoused. And also, would you at least give credit to the sacred Watusi indian tribe for the use of your pilfered, and uncredited, ice cream making technique? The fact that you use their sacred technique is ACTUAL violence.
I had a run-in with one of your employees, and I yelled out from a block away and they just acted like I wasn’t there. The white privilege was off the chart, and I needed an intervention by my DEI coach and a month of therapy just to be able to function again. And you feel that I should care about your so-called safety?
And by the way, the company has an overwhelming number of flavors with the “white” descriptor in the name of the flavor. Local BIPOC customers wish that we were equally represented as well in this regard, but of course that would take you actually admitting to your privilege first. We are waiting for all of these things to change, and if not, we will boycott your company until these issues have been rectified.
Signed,
Typical Portland Resident
Sorry, in my rush to post I forgot to say that I wrote this fictional letter to Salt & Straw in response to them potentially moving out of state due to......well, you know.
DeleteLet he, she, them, they, x y and z cast the next stone…
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that too many Portlanders are hopelessly too caught up in the "nastiness of critics" because they perceive too much of it as "hoots and cat calls from the right-wingers". Last thing the Portland left wants is to be seen as siding with the right wing. Rather continued destruction than doing anything remotely R word. Are they subconsciensly awaiting some sort of total eradication of the right so they can only then co-opt their obvious beefs about what is going on? Meanwhile the degradation is ongoing and the future looks bleak. EcoNorthwest reported that a full recovery won't arrive till 2034.
ReplyDeleteThat should be unacceptable.
Portland will host the women's Final Four for the 1st time in 2030.
If EcoNW is correct that may be about when Portland bottoms out. Yuck.
Few people here are so stupid as to want to be associated in any way with the party that brought us Donald Trump. It's the racism, mostly. As for "full recovery," the countdown to that one has not even started. 2034 may be optimistic.
ReplyDeleteTrue that. But it also appears few people in Portland care to recognize what party brought us the demise of Portland. The downward spiral will certainly continue for some time. That's why I presumed the bottom may be around 2030 when Portland hosts the women's Final Four. How much worse can it get? Quite a bit really. Add a deep recession or another pandemic spike or both and the local insanity will fester even more. As for the racism? I know many of the other party members here in Oregon and can't think of a one with any racism traits. Just saying.
DeletePot calling Ice Cream cone black...
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what got Pavlov started on his thesis
ReplyDelete