THE RACE CARD… Squid admits to being obsessively devoted to a few good things in life, like shrimp-garnished cocktails, the 2016 election predictions (it’s never too soon!) and NPR. Just hearing the voice of Michele Norris calms this cephalopod’s highly developed nervous system.
Norris started The Race Card Project to hear from ordinary people about everyday experiences with race – in six-word essays, submitted on “race cards.”
Marc Quarles, a black man, wrote in – “With kids, I’m dad. Alone, thug” – and Norris interviewed him in a segment that broadcast Nov. 17. Quarles lives in Pacific Grove with his German wife and their two children.
He shared a few anecdotes about his life experience in P.G., and talked about how he’s treated differently when his family is away (hence his six words). He sounds remarkably level-headed about it all.
Pagrovians, though, seem less level-headed about Quarles’ segment. The Pagrovia Facebook page exploded with comments ranging from defensive (“Maybe the feelings he’s getting aren’t from people originally from P.G.”) to victim-blaming (“Is he just looking for attention?… This guy needs to grow some balls”) to no, not that kind of discrimination (“Dads are treated better than single men”) to dismissive (“Maybe a little counseling would help or a chill pill LOL”).
“He jumped to a lot of conclusions because he’s black,” one commenter wrote. So did most of the commenters. There were a few introspective voices of reason, but Squid couldn’t help but think lots of NPR listeners missed the point: It’s a conversation we can all learn from, if we open our minds and consider reality in someone else’s shoes.
TURF WARS… Speaking of Pagrovian hand-wringing, Squid’s somewhat agape at the public kvetching over a water-wise landscaping upgrade at Lovers Point Park. “This is sick,” oneFacebook user commented under photos of stripped turf Nov. 17. “Saaaaaad!” wrote another. The group lament went on. What they’re so upset about: a city partnership with California American Water to replace a few strips of the park’s most water-sucking, trampled-upon grass with drip-irrigated native plants. It’s meant to be a demonstration project, inspiring people to save water at their own homes. (They can get money for it, too, through Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s cash-for-grass rebate.) The landscaping work is on the park’s edges, leaving most of the green in place for weddings and frolicking. All told, the project will remove 10,200 square feet of turf – less than 5 percent of the 5-acre park – and save 700 gallons of water a day. So, like, awesome, right? “Just horrible!” a Facebooker moans. Only in Pacific Grove.