Going Postal August 22 2001

Thanks for the story
Thank you so much for your fair and unbiased article concerning my husband's death from ingesting Clostridium perfringens at El Azteca on Ponce de Leon Avenue ("Widow sues restaurant," Aug. 8). Thanks for letting the public know.

-- Nancy Kratzer, Atlanta

Hold the demonizing
I just wanted to write a brief note to say that was one of the most surprisingly well-balanced and informative articles I have ever read in a local/regional publication ("Widow sues restaurant," Aug. 8). No hysterics and no melodrama, but useful information that shows this event goes beyond black-and-white caricatures.

I have no interest in the story except that I received an e-mail about it months ago. While I will probably not dine at the restaurant for a while, I appreciate the fact that you did not set out to demonize them. Most of life is complex, and your article portrayed that extremely well.

Thanks for taking the time and care to report on it accurately.

-- Todd Kice, Atlanta

Respect Ria
Jerry Portwood: It never ceases to amaze me as to how someone who has never operated a restaurant can be a critic ("Bluebird of blandness," Aug. 8). Now granted, I don't know your pedigree, and you may have experience outside of being a talented typist, but your review did not reflect that. If you ran or operated a restaurant, you wouldn't have time to write a critique.

As for your meal of a "Turkey, Avocado and Swiss cheese sandwich," it sounded exactly like what you ordered. "Tofu Dressing" not being spicy enough is funny, as most people of your advanced palate would cringe at it being too hot. Equally as funny is that most French cuisine calls for caramelized onions to be soft. As for your dining partner, "to have required large doses of ketchup," or as the gourmets say, catsup, shows how deep your sophisticated palate runs.

Ria has revitalized an otherwise eyesore into a thriving business without sucking the life out of the character that is Atlanta. Maybe an Olive Garden or Chili's would have been better, but folks like you can't pick up a salt shaker to season food to your taste much less than you could deal with what it takes to build a restaurant from the ground up.

I respect what Ria has done with her place. Why? Because she did it without help from the pathetic Atlanta "something for nothings" like you. I ran a restaurant.

-- Jim Stacy, Decatur

Defending the night shift
Cathy Woolard voting to close 24-hour clubs has a price ("A queer situation," Aug. 1). You don't see the people who work nights and weekends, the vamps that keep the city running while everyone sleeps.

I know that Taco Mac stays open until 3 a.m. For two years, it's been the only place someone who works nights can get a half decent lunch at three in the morning. We all know the place, we the people who've sacrificed a normal life for a decent job and pay, we the people who keep your cell phones from losing messages, your power from being cut off, your water running, your cars running.

More and more life has gone 24-7. Do you really think Waffle House is where I want to have lunch every day? Where I want to spend my weekend on Tuesday and Wednesdays?

I've seen Charlie Brown and Raven, not because I'm gay. They merely put on a great show on my hours.

We're the ones who fix all those problems while you sleep so you don't have to deal with them on your time. Don't make life hard for us, and we won't make life hard for you. You've got your rush hour. We've got our 24-hour clubs. Think about it. -- John Kovaly, Duluth

Fido deserves better
I oppose the inhumane use of carbon monoxide gas chambers to kill unwanted cats, dogs, kittens and puppies at animal shelters in the state of Georgia ("Pets agree: Death chamber a bad idea," July 18).

This practice is so barbaric and creates so much excessive pain and suffering at least four other states have banned their use. Now people like Bill Garrett of the Atlanta Humane Society have publicly condoned their use. One of the justifications is that lethal injections are more expensive and time consuming. Well, Mr. Garrett, like it or not, you've assumed a public position which is ostensibly supposed to help and protect the animals. Find the money to buy the necessary components for lethal injection.

One suggestion is take a pay cut and use that money to help pay for the drugs. The animals being killed have had a bad life. Some abused, some neglected, some unloved, but all of them have been abandoned through no fault of their own. They have had an often painful life; the least we can do is make their death less painful, less inhumane and just a bit more caring.

-- Dino Vlachos, Chamblee

Don't mess with Dixie
Just wanted to thank you for the fine hatchet job you did on me with the Margaret Mitchell House story (Scene & Herd, "Sin, soup and energy drinks," July 18). While I am flattered by your publication of my picture and notation of my efforts that day, I have the following comments.

Obviously your publication is something that is good for puppies and maybe my daughter's bird cage. I certainly didn't count on Mr. Nouraee's fake pleasantness at the Margaret Mitchell House to allow me to score any points with the typical liberal rag. Decent journalism gives both sides of the story. Even the AJC did a better job than you did.

If your publication has any chance of ever being taken serious, why don't you interview one of the leaders of the Southern Movement and get their side of the story? At least then your reporters will get the story right.

-- John C. Hall Jr., Roswell

Sanitization stinks
I may be Jane Catoe's oldest fan. Next month, I'll turn 79, but I've always listened to young people like Catoe mostly because during the Depression when I was young, no one gave a shit about listening to kids. Anyway, I agree with Catoe that this summer's movies stink (Jane Says, "Summer movie meltdown," July 25). I've seen them all, just like an old fart is supposed to, and they stink.

There is a reason, of course, for the malodor. Today's consumers demand very little, and, despite the seeming international sophistication of the times, are scared to death of innovation and the unfamiliar.

Unlike Catoe, many young consumers embrace the bland and ascribe odors to the authentic. I took my grandson, who smokes cigars and drinks beer, to Ybor City in my hometown Tampa where they make real cigars, and he thought they stank. Ditto real beer: It stinks. My great-grandkids think the DeKalb Farmer's Market stinks, and my grandson's wife announced to us several times that New York City, Paris, Venice and Barcelona stink.

My son told me years ago that we ate too much stinky lamb, goat and Bulgarian cheese in our home and that he was happy to get away and eat "normal American food." When he comes to Atlanta, the only restaurant he'll consider is Piccadilly Cafeteria "because the food is clean."

Hundreds of brands of deodorizers are sold today for every possible use, so it's no surprise that movies are sanitized as well. My great-grandson rented Fritz Lang's classic M and deemed it "slow and creepy."

A mind-numbing redolence of perfumed disinfectant is rising over North America, masking the authentic and real. It will not, I fear, lift before I die.

-- Jon Grantly Jr., Atlanta??