2008 Woodie Awards
Call yourself an Alaskan? Maybe you should look around
Teresa Combs
Issue date: 7/29/08 Section: Call to Action
I recently visited my hot, sweltering hippie roots in Southern California, and I was easily reminded of why I left. Traffic, pollution, lifted trucks as far as the eye could see, those stupid stick-figure family stickers peppered across the back of a Hummer's window, and of course, the recently imposed cell-phone ban which occurred the day after I arrived.
If you aren't familiar with the collective uproar of about 36 million people, California has recently passed a law that forbids anyone over 18 to use a cell-phone that is not enabled with a hands-free device. While I believe that this is a conspiracy fueled by the Bluetooth handset companies to make a nice buck from lousy drivers, it's also worth knowing that this new law doesn't include text messaging or dialing, so now there's going to be a whole new onslaught of accidents as people try to communicate with two hands instead of one.
California has become quite a nanny state, as apparently its citizens are too stupid to do things on their own. So now, Californians need their hands gently held by as they will change over their incandescent light bulbs and also be told how to use their cell phones because too many of them get creamed on the freeways while talking to their divorce lawyer or agent. While it's great to control some of the bewildering idiots that represent a startling number of the population, where is it any state's right to tell you what to do?
Alaska, you're guilty too. The smoking ban, anyone? You know, California did it too. I hear way too many Alaskans complain how Outside influence has made its way up here and tainted the purity of the wild state. Now we are going to have Target, condos that look like they belong in downtown Seattle, and a general displeasure toward anything that is a little too yuppie.
I remember the initial smoking ban commercials that played ad nauseum in California. There was a tired waitress, hand on hip as she pitifully whined about smelling like smoke when she came home from work. So? Should I feel that bad? If you don't like what you signed up for, if you knew that you were going to be working in a bar of all places, then maybe it's time for another job that selects to be a non-smoking establishment. Your matter of employment, and your business's decisions should not be a concern of the state.
If you aren't familiar with the collective uproar of about 36 million people, California has recently passed a law that forbids anyone over 18 to use a cell-phone that is not enabled with a hands-free device. While I believe that this is a conspiracy fueled by the Bluetooth handset companies to make a nice buck from lousy drivers, it's also worth knowing that this new law doesn't include text messaging or dialing, so now there's going to be a whole new onslaught of accidents as people try to communicate with two hands instead of one.
California has become quite a nanny state, as apparently its citizens are too stupid to do things on their own. So now, Californians need their hands gently held by as they will change over their incandescent light bulbs and also be told how to use their cell phones because too many of them get creamed on the freeways while talking to their divorce lawyer or agent. While it's great to control some of the bewildering idiots that represent a startling number of the population, where is it any state's right to tell you what to do?
Alaska, you're guilty too. The smoking ban, anyone? You know, California did it too. I hear way too many Alaskans complain how Outside influence has made its way up here and tainted the purity of the wild state. Now we are going to have Target, condos that look like they belong in downtown Seattle, and a general displeasure toward anything that is a little too yuppie.
I remember the initial smoking ban commercials that played ad nauseum in California. There was a tired waitress, hand on hip as she pitifully whined about smelling like smoke when she came home from work. So? Should I feel that bad? If you don't like what you signed up for, if you knew that you were going to be working in a bar of all places, then maybe it's time for another job that selects to be a non-smoking establishment. Your matter of employment, and your business's decisions should not be a concern of the state.
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Alaskan Raised
Alaskan Raised
posted 7/31/08 @ 6:58 PM AKST
I was raised in Alaska and still live here 27 years later. While I appreciate your view, Teresa, in keeping Alaska a free society...I do not agree with your stance that smoke-free facilities, a growth in housing (cracker-box or not), and a new grocery/department store make Alaska bound to State laws and a population aching for a "yuppie" appeal. (Continued…)
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