Opinion: Punch incident is about customer dissatisfaction

Judging by the letters to the editor and columns you have chosen to print, the Times' view on this incident is myopic in the extreme. It's clear that there is no shortage of complacent readers ready to pile on at every opportunity when African-Americans allow their history and experience to influence them to suspect racism.

The fact of the matter in the case at hand, however, is that the Progressive National Baptists were customers, dissatisfied customers. In a society that purports to give customers the right to spend their money as they choose, why is the choice of the Baptists to express their dissatisfaction by taking their business elsewhere automatically suspect. To listen to the contributors to your paper, "The customer is always right" is an ethic no longer applicable or one that does not apply to African-Americans, or Progressive National Baptists. Instead, in this case, said contributors insist on shifting the burden of proof from the establishment seeking their business to the customer.

To me, the issue is not whether the customers have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the incident occurred. The issue is this: Having indicated that they had a problem with the service being provided, what did the business serving do to redress that problem? Clearly, what they did was not enough to satisfy the customers. Therefore, the customers took their business elsewhere. End of story.
-- Doug Dear, Tampa

A very human pattern

Re: The punch bowl incident.

I must take issue with those who claim this is a race issue, and with those who claim the Baptists were not demonstrating proper Christian values.

Let's look at the facts. A respected member of a group saw something that upset him. Whether he accurately observed events or not is irrelevant at this point, because his next action was to spread his version among convention attendees. The attendees both accepted his version without question and passed it to others orally, which resulted in (as oral transmission usually does) multiple versions of events, becoming ever more outrageous. This outrage then built to a fevered pitch, resulting in irrational actions and threats against many who had no involvement or responsibility for the original incident. Are you with me so far?

This is not a pattern that applies to blacks any more than to whites or other groups. Anyone remember Salem? The McCarthy hearings? Dozens of incidents following exactly the same pattern over our history, involving people of every race and ethnic origin? While the motivation of some or all of the actors might be racial, the pattern is pure human.

As well, the reliance on faith is equally to blame. Remember, attendees accepted his version (and often, the later versions) without question, as those who accept things on faith are wont to do. Once faith is acceptable as a basis for action, irrational behavior is guaranteed to follow, which is why the pattern of behavior for Christians, and other religions, so often follows the above pattern.

Until we, as humans, learn to apply critical thinking to our everyday behavior and wait until the facts are established before acting, until we stop accepting things on faith, this pattern will continue to repeat. Despite the not-so-subtle implications from many commentators, blacks are as capable of acting rationally as anyone else, and indoctrination into faith-based thinking is the true culprit.
-- Brent Yaciw, Wesley Chapel

An embarrassing response

Re: Details of punch incident diverge, Aug. 10.

As a black man, I must say I am appalled by the behavior displayed by the Progressive National Baptist Convention president and some of the convention attendees with regard to this alleged incident. If the server in question did something wrong, he should be dealt with. But to use bullying tactics, spread false rumors and stoop to the level of crying "racism" and shouting "conspiracy" for every infraction real or imagined is divisive, irresponsible and, quite frankly, embarrassing.

There are many in the black community who feel that people of other races just don't take us seriously. Gee, I wonder why!
-- Ray Hendricks, Palm Harbor

As a business, tax it

Re: Details of punch incident diverge.

Since the Rev. C. Mackey Daniels has stated that the Progressive National Baptist Convention is not "a mom-and-pop operation" but a "big business," then it should be treated as such and be taxed the same as all businesses.
-- Andrew Antunez, Hudson

Watch out for the sharks

The sharks are out there, they have always been there. The sightings have been near Anclote Key, which is where my three encounters occurred. The Anclote Key area was a prime area for snorkeling for scallops for the last 40 years. My wife and I and our small children would rent a 14-foot boat on the Anclote River and head for Anclote Key, where we would find the scallops.

In the first incident, after I let the children in the water I noticed a shark fin between our boat and the island. I hurried my two kids, ages 5 and 6, back into the boat. I started the 10-horsepower kicker and headed toward the shark. When I approached, the fin disappeared. When I went over the area where I had viewed the fin, I saw a 10-foot shark on the bottom. The shark immediately swam away and then made a 360 degree turn and rammed he boat. It looked like a bull or thresher shark.

My next encounter was two years later on a beautiful, calm day -- a great day to be out snorkeling for scallops. Again the kids were out of the boat when I had a feeling that something wasn't right. I got them back into the boat and within minutes a hammerhead shark glided within inches of us. It appeared to be the full length of the boat. If you have ever seen the head of a hammerhead shark you don't forget it.

My next encounter was a few years later when I pulled in a small grouper and looked into the mouth of a medium sized shark, inches away.

Be careful is the only reasonable message I can give. The sharks were there before me and will be there after I'm gone.
-- Richard S. Lee, Largo

History lesson is needed

Re: U.S. to study spraying risks in Colombia, by Paul de la Garza and David Adams, Aug. 12.

"He who fails to learn the lessons of history is doomed to repeat them." Does anyone in the State Department or Central Intelligence Agency remember Agent-Orange spraying in Southeast Asia?

Assurances that herbicide spraying is "safe" ring a hollow note.

Do the "responsible officials" really believe that destruction of the cash and subsistance crops and trees that control erosion is the way to win agrarian peasants in Colombia to the government cause?
-- Richard P. Blommaert, St. Petersburg

Gay rights is about equal rights

Re: Council hesitates on gay rights debate, Aug. 13.

St. Petersburg City Council member Bill Foster should get off his homophobic high horse. People don't choose their sexual identity. Get a grip! It's in their brains. What happened to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? It's not about special rights, it's about equal rights. The right to live and work without being harassed. The right to choose your companions without public ridicule and state-sponsored derision. The right to hold your head up as a substantial and contributing member of society. The right to publicly exist without undue persecution.

Ask yourself, what has a homosexual done to you to lower your quality of life? In a country where separation of church and state is law, I urge the City Council to reject the right-wing religious right's holier-than-thou attitude, to put love before hate and accept and protect our loving homosexual brothers and sisters.
-- Alan Olive, St. Petersburg

The responsibility of parents

Re: Parents responsible for son, 50, judge says, Aug. 4.

I read in our paper that David Culp of Ventura, Calif., suffering from bipolar depression, was suing his parents for support not only for himself but also for his family.

The man is a 50-year-old graduate of Stanford University who practiced family law for 19 years, who went from an income of about $100,000 a year to a disability check of $1,049 a month.

Judge Melinda Johnson ruled in favor of Culp, making his parents, who have an income of more than $200,000 a year, pay living expenses for him and his family.

Culp's attorney said, "Every parent I talk to gets the shivers when they hear about it." I, too, get the shivers, but probably for all the opposite reasons.

Why do parents need a judge to come to the rescue to a sick son? Even worse, why do the grandparents not feel compelled to help the grandchildren with college expenses?

I am a divorced mother and a grandmother. I am not rich, but my daughter's well-being has always been my first priority. I, too, have a 24-year-old daughter with bipolar depression. I have seen and lived her struggle. I know how these people can't always hold a job, how helpless they can be.

I applaud Judge Johnson, who understood that the law does not have a magic number in mind to terminate parental responsibilities. David Culp with his disease, as devastating as cancer, but certainly much less understood, is again a child in need. Judge Johnson came to his rescue, reminding society of our duties when one of our offspring is incapable of supporting himself, no matter how old he is.

Wouldn't it be nice if our lawmakers could write a law for every state of this great nation making it illegal for parents to "forget" about their disabled children of any age, especially those who have reached the magic 18 years.
-- Beatrice Bryan, Clearwater

Give older drivers an alternative

Re: Too old to drive? Aug. 9.

The Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Aug. 1 that as part of a local government campaign, more than 180 seniors in the district of Rhine-Westphalia exchanged their drivers' licenses for a six-month pass good on local trains and buses. Officials were quoted as saying they wanted to provide an alternative to older people who no longer felt confident of their driving ability.

Perhaps our government officials at each level should explore the possibilities of providing such an option for our seniors similarly situated. Any successful efforts along these lines would undoubtedly prevent some accidental deaths and injuries that would otherwise result from seniors driving after they have reached the point where they can no longer do so safely.
-- Hugh Clark, Tampa

Share your opinions

We invite readers to write to us. Letters for publication should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. They also can be sent by fax to (727) 893-8675.

They should be brief and must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Please include a handwritten signature when possible.

Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. We regret that not all letters can be published.

For e-mail users: Letters can be sent by e-mail to letters@sptimes.com.E-mail messages must be text only and cannot include attachments. If you're using a word processing program to write the message, you must use its "Save as'' function to save it as a text file, then import it into your e-mail program. Please include your return e-mail address, as well as your name, mailing address and phone number, in the text of the message.

Back to Opinion

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

From the Times
Opinion page