i hate guys(mostly) spitting on the sidewalk. have you noticed there is a whole lot of it going on. i just was entering the central library and there was a gaggle of children, kids, whatever you call 'em these days and one of them, about nine years old i'm guessing spit right on the ground in front of me. now i'm no prohibitionist. i figure there are times when a guy or even a gal has to clear some phlegm, like when they are quitting smoking or something, and a little discreet spit in the gutter might be o.k. but that's not what we're talking about here. i can't tell you what my mother would have done to me if she saw me spittting on the sidewalk. i used to spit on the corner of 21st and penn av south when i was a kid. i knew my mother would never come around. i've found myself recently spitting again occasionally. i got caught by my wife. she said " did you just spit?" boy was i ashamed. now guys who spit on the sidewalk for me are kinda like taggers are for other people. i notice the taggers when they hit a building but i kinda tune em out when they tag the bases of lamp posts. i found myself pleasantly amused by a tag on the outer edge of a manhole cover the other day. now graffiti artists are a whole nother ball of wax. and there is a big difference to my way of thinking. there is one incredible mural on the hendlin visual building in downtown minneapolis. on the east side of hennepin between 11th and 12th streets. the only problem i can see with it is that it faces in a direction where so few people see it cause hennepin is one way. another good idea, huh? hey but that's a whole nother kettle of fish. I think tagging is pretty stupid. mostly a guy dog kinda thing. i would rather see restorative justice and sentence to serve sorts of punishments. at the same time i most definitely want to encourage graffiti artists and muralists. how come we have a mayor who wants avenue of the arts running up to a big old mausoleum housing the mostly dead masters and we stomp out hip-hop culture and some of its best artistic expression? now spitters, there's another thing. i might just tell the next guy to at least spit in the street. then again i'm getting damn near old enough to say, "what's your momma say she see you spittin on da sidewalk?" i hope i don't get punched out. Tim Connolly Ward 7 p.s. i may not have signed my last rant on the st. paul shootout. i apologize __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
