Leaky Pen -- Como Conservative Dress Policy Mainly because I have been doing other things. I have been withholding comment about Teresa Hafele of Forest Lake printed in the Sainted and Tainted portion of the Pioneer Press on Saturday, April 10. She complained about how her son and some friends had been treated at the Como Park Conservatory. Since she is from Forest Lake, we feel her opinions are totally irrelevant and immaterial We have said it many times: Suburban people are by definition enemies of cites and their inhabitants, people who regard cities as things to be exploited when convenient, and their inhabitants lesser beings. I will not comment at the moment about the alleged limit of four people in a picture. While it does seem that conservatory management needs to have some policies to ensure that conservatory business is conducted in a way which is responsible and orderly and fair to all users, I don't know enough about the details of conservatory operation to comment on whether these policies are justified. However, I will repeat what I posted earlier in another forum. It seems patently unfair to charge somebody more because he/she is younger and better dressed. And I cannot imagine how I would perform if I worked there and had to tell somebody, "You are too well dressed and too young. You need to pay more." While I do not get carried away with dressing well, it seems to me that if well-dressed people had any visual impact on the conservatory, that it would be a good one. And I don't know how we expect the youth of today to become the conservatory visitors of tomorrow if the experiences of their youth are those of being treated in a second-class way. I don't know if the Salvation Army still has Easter services in the conservatory, but is their rental fee affected by the age and dress of those who attend. If not, why not? RS Response from Midway Barb May 12, 2004: I appreciate your sentiment. I asked one of the volunteers there when the policy was announced. I guess you just have to be there when they take them pictures to appreciate the problem. You may be right. While I have a hard time picturing it, there may well be a problem. I have not been there when prom pictures were being taken. [Why go inside to see flowers in May?] But I would still wonder if this is the right approach. RS |
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