SF Examiner "Coit" Title Needs Examination

Am I the only one who finds this headline crass? Probably. And, that is a problem.

The story has nothing to do with the well know and highly flawed birth control method. It’s a story about a delay in getting a food vendor licensed at the well known San Francisco landmark, Coit Tower.

But, I get it. Oh yes, the Coit Tower has a phallic shape. But, so does the handle of my toilet plunger.  

Without putting much thinking into it, I can think of several other titles that would not be as shameful and just as cutesy. How about:

“Coit Cuisine Crashes”

“Coit Tower Starving?”

“Coit Chowless”

“Chowless Coit,”

“Chow Cut at Coit”

The title, while eye catching, is unnecessary.

Cheap headlines like this only seem to cheapen the story, our minds, and our bodies. Garbage in, garbage out. Perhaps the Examiner is impregnated with the seductive embrace of convention whereby we all go around coarsening our culture at every turn.  

We don’t’ have to be infected by the same coarseness.

Serving The Law that Serves Us Best

When I think back on my career as a police officer, it was not uncommon to say or think, “I served the law.” While I knew there were reasons for the law, the phrase, “I serve the law,” never seemed problematic. I always knew I served the people and didn’t get too hung up on the phraseology.

Even outside the vocation of policing, we often think in those terms. We serve our boss, we serve our company, we serve our stockholders, we serve our nation, etc.

Heck, we even service our cars.

We say these things without too much thought; we sort of understand and believe its all good. I wonder, however, how often we consider what’s behind that service.

Celebrate This: Coming to Terms Over The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

It’s been over one week since we learned that Osama Bin Laden was killed by the US Navy’s mythical Seal Team Six while conducting Operation Neptune Spear halfway around the world. It is only now that I can begin to put into words the thoughts and emotions flung into motion on the first day of May, 2011.

In the hours and days that followed, celebrations, planned and unplanned broke out. All forms of media were energized by the dramatic death of the most notorious man of our time.

News commentators and pundits of all types repeatedly made the amusing gaffe of transposing “Obama and Osama” in their sheer excitement to proclaim the “good news.” As I listened to this, I chuckled and thought, why don’t we just call him Bin Laden? This way we can avoid sounding like Ted Kennedy.

Dad, What Is That? - A Recent Experience With Daughters, Public Decency And Car Cullions

Well some things are hard to write about. Some things are even harder to talk about. This one is both. However, something has been nagging me for over a month now and it’s time to let it all hang out, so to speak.