WW welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to letters of 250 words or less. Editor's note: WW's Jan. 20 cover story on our pet Portland peeves ("Kvetchfest") drew more response than any article in recent memory. Although most responses were positive (see Reader's Peeves), not everyone liked our critique. On the following pages we've included a sample of the criticism. To include as many letters as possible, we have edited some of them. PSEUDO-HIPSTERS I feel sorry for the narrow-minded collaboration of the individuals who determined the "Pet Peeves of Portland." It is a shame that this article was the cover story of the week, as it is such a poor representation of Willamette Week and its readers. To begin with, the pet peeve on page 20, "white guys with dreadlocks," is incredibly racist. I can't imagine how it passed the editors for approval! If that was reversed, "black men with straight hair," it would never fly. Furthermore, it comes across in this article that Willamette Week supports narrow-mindedness and demoralizes individuality. Just because another individual chooses to wear something you wouldn't pick for yourself does not indicate you are the better person. Portland's liberalism and individuality are two of its finer points. Please don't try to take that away and leave us with a neighborhood of pseudo-intellectual hipsters. "Kvetchfest" screams junior high school mentality. Let's leave the snobbery behind. L. Schmitt 11th Avenue SPELLING ERRORS Because they should know better, one of my biggest pet peeves--in cities of any size--is newspapers who make stupid spelling errors. Page 20: "John Marler: With his perfectly quaffed hair..." Hair is coifed; wine is quaffed! Cheers. Rebecca Daniels Southwest 32nd Avenue Editor's note: Ouch! Daniels wasn't the only reader to note this error. Thanks for all your spirited corrections. SELF-INDULGENT NEWSPAPERS Pet Peeves? Not surprisingly, you overlooked a biggie: Portland's major alternative newspaper (the one that occasionally does fine work and is essential to the well-being of the city) frequently descends into smug name-calling, cuteness, and self-indulgent superficiality. It's lame, folks! Scott Teitsworth Northwest Skyline Boulevard BIKER BIAS That's it! Enough with society's targeting cyclists as an evil institution. Your kvetch about cyclists hit a very sore nerve. As autos now outnumber the population of the United States, another not-so-new minority is again being pushed to the fringe. We cyclists (bikers ride Harleys, cyclists motor under their own power) are being pushed about the streets and trails of cities and wilderness. I realize there are as many ingrates on bikes as there are raging motorists, but most of us are responsible and wouldn't be caught dead on Leif Erickson Drive on a weekend anyway. It's too crowded. Leif Erickson is one of five trails in Forest Park designated as multi-use, available for use by hikers, cyclists and equestrians. If you and your out-of-control brats with your yapping feces machines (usually law-flauntingly unleashed) wish to walk through nature "unmolested," try Wildwood, Macleay, Spruce, Hemlock or the dozen or so other trails reserved for hikers only. As far as hiker etiquette is concerned, all a cyclist legally needs to do is verbally announce their impending arrival by saying loudly, "Passing on your left," at which time you respond by immediately moving to the RIGHT side of the trail. You know--SLOW TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT! Yep, just like on the freeway. If you, hiker, shout "Slow down" one more time, well, you don't want me to stop. Finding out that their preconceived, misinformed opinions are wrong can be embarrassingly difficult for them to assimilate into their little pea brains. So, mommies and daddies with your tri-geek strollers and mangy pups, stay to the right, keep Fido on its leash and expect cyclists to pass you suddenly as we will continue to ride at our own pace as you drive at yours on the freeway. And another thing. As a single heterosexual male, I would be ecstatic to meet a single heterosexual female whose income is not derived from a career as a coffee barista, cocktail waitress, hairdresser or stripper. Oh, and I hope you own your own bicycle. Thank you for the forum to kvetch on my own. Lindsey Burdett North Michigan Avenue ANTI-MALE SEXISM It is disappointing that folks can perceive "sexism" and "sexual harassment" in the posing of the Three Groins in the Fountain statue and still miss the blatant, obvious anti-male sexism and sex discrimination evident in the practices of some of the telephone dating services that regularly advertise in your publication. Specifically, I refer to their practices of charging male customers for services offered to female customers for free. The reluctance to acknowledge anti-male sexism in Willamette Week is a metaphor for the nationwide failure to do so. As many of us know--but seldom discuss--it is only men that must register for the military draft; only women that may decline parenthood; men commit suicide four times as often as women do; women batter men as often as the converse; 85 percent of the homeless population is male--the list goes on and on. These are but a few of the issues that an investigative journal, genuinely concerned with BOTH sides of sexism, could address. Earl Fibish Southeast 97th Avenue HIPPIE BIAS That whole Hawthorne pet peeve got under my skin. First off, I don't live on Hawthorne, I don't have long hair, I'm not a hippie, never was, although I do believe peace, love and all that stuff is a GOOD thing. Patchouli? Well, maybe you don't like it, but I and other people I know happen to think it smells nice. Actually, it's a very sensual aroma. Birks and socks? I'd say this is a pretty accepted look in the western United States. Gee, how many people at WW wear them? I wonder. Tie-dye and Jerry? Hmmmm. Jerry didn't invent tie-dye. And if you knew ANYTHING about Garcia, he always wore black. So why throw Garcia into the picture? Seems like you guys just needed space to fill, and at Jerry's expense nonetheless! He'd probably laugh at you. To think of the millions of people around the world that he influenced. Hmmmm, maybe if you guys shed a little positive light on things, you could do the same... Peace. Tom Mittemeyer Beaverton - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published February 3, 1999