Reader Chris tells us about his night out:
I was at Locanda with my girlfriend, having dinner at the bar. What was one moment a quiet, boring Monday night suddenly turned pretty frightening when 3-4 assh*oles, like a pack of dogs, started trying to SMASH the windows of the restaurant. Mind you, it was packed and there were several 2 tops and 4 tops in harms way.
The morons responsible for this desperation were using what looked like a metal banister or something, in attempts to break through the window. That said, had the owners of Locanda not possessed the foresight to use heavy duty windows – which did not break or shatter – the folks sitting in the front, would have surely been hurt very badly.
This was mos def the FuckUPie movement. They want u pie, and they will break u windoze ’til they get it.
I’m actually quite upset by and concerned for not only Locanda and Wo Hing, but especially the many local businesses – including small, individual-owner operations such as Tradesmen Furniture, which had its front window totally smashed – that were damaged. Also, Four Barrel and other successful but independent, DIY local favorites…
I think it’s obvious that this is just perhaps fairly concerned but eventually misguided political thoughts being used an excuse for violence, but it seems difficult to say what to do to stop it, or to separate it from more legitimate movements and expressions.
However, I’m all for arresting and prosecuting anyone at all involved in such violence.
It seems the police, however, were just guarding their own castle, which, given that they seemed to have been completely surprised by this, and so understaffed, may not have been such a bad choice.
“DIY local favorites” Oh, poor “successful but independent, DIY local favorites…”
There’s a lot of fucking White Whine going on with you guys. Really, those “DIY local favorites” are the reason the Mission has been so horribly gentrified. All you yuppie types decided it’d be cool to live in the then “urban” and “gritty” Mission but didn’t want to see anyone in “your neighborhood” (no. fuck you. my neighborhood) that scared you so you forced the poor people out. I am tired of you goddamn hipsters thinking that you somehow own the Mission when all you’ve done is push out working class Black and Latinos, forcing them to move to more dangerous areas. This is largely BECAUSE of these businesses you guys are exalting. Very few of them are owned by the type of Black and Latino families that used to live here. They’re almost all owned by upper class white people. Honestly half the time I want to throw bricks through the windows of most Valencia street businesses.
ESPECIALLY FUCKING FOURBARREL
Yuppie go home. Get out of mine.
[posted from a public access library computer]
– Yes?