Going Postal August 05 2000

Like a good neighbor
I would like to applaud Hollis Gillespie for her article “Slugs for Snitches,” (CL, July 29) in which she was able to leave out the ethnicity of those so-called “trouble makers” in her neighborhood. So my response might be completely off base, but I’ll give it anyway.?
?After digesting this story I couldn’t help but think of a similar incident in our country’s past. I am thinking of the occupants who were living on this land for awhile and the Europeans who came over and made themselves at home.?br>?Sure it was risky, the “settlers” thought, but just think of all the potential. And yeah, these Indians are savage and immoral, but if we pull out our big fancy books and have them sign contracts and buy up their land, well hell, they’ll be gone in no time. Then we can build our buildings and make everything look just like home. And if need be we will resort to violence, just to teach them a lesson.?
?Of course that’s not the real issue. But what is? Gentrification and displacement? What have you and your ‘friendly’ neighbors done for those 8-year-olds who are selling drugs? Or what about the fact that you’re a publicly admitted former cocaine user who at one time supported that system of life you now see out your front window??
? — Justin Amin, Morrow

Moody music
Your music critic dismissed the Moody Blues (Sound menu, CL, July 8) as a group whose music was more likely to be heard in elevators than on the radio.?
?I don’t know what elevators your music critic has been riding in lately. They certainly weren’t the ones my wife and I have been riding in, for we’ve never heard any of their classic works reduced to Muzak.?
?However, I will agree that they don’t get a lot of airplay compared to other groups from the “classic rock” era, such as the Who, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, etc. Perhaps that’s because they don’t fit in the mold of “classic rock.” Rather, their music is a complex fusion of classical rhythms and superb vocal harmonies that goes beyond the simple and repetitive rhythms that categorizes so much of the rock music that “classic rock” stations constantly blast toward our eardrums. On the other hand, the Moodies are popular on various noncommercial niche market stations catering to the music connoisseur. ?
?I’d like to put in a good word for Chastain Park. It was nice to see a facility that allowed its patrons to bring food and beverages — even alcoholic beverages — into the facility. So many venues in Charlotte that feature the same performers that Chastain Park does search all who enter lest they bring so much as a McDonald’s French fry onto the premises. ?
?Yet despite Chastain Park allowing patrons to bring anything into the seating area, there was nary an incident of misbehavior on the part of the crowd, proving my adage that if you treat people like adults, they’ll act like adults. If only other facilities were as respectful of their patrons as was Chastain Park.?
?-- Stephen V. Gilmore, Charlotte, N.C.