Law Enforcement vs. Witches Brew Coffeeshop.

[xiane]

This makes me really fucking angry. I know they've been having problems with the law enforcement, but this goes beyond the pale.

And I thought I had it tough in C'ville with trying to keep all-ages shows going. Jeez.

Comments

[xiane.livejournal.com]

I don't disagree that I would have handled myself differently. This was written after the fact, possibly while still pretty angry. However, her retorts - which I feel were fairly mild, considering - came *after* the cop was utterly unprofessional and provoking. Do I think that having a retort in that situation was constructive? Resonable behaviour was thrown out the window long ago with the way cops handle the patrons at that business. Again, I've seen it happen, so I know that the story's bones aren't trumped up. I don't know how cool she was, because I wasn't there, but most people have a difficult time keeping their cool when being harrassed - especially when it comes out of the blue.

I think that you make some assumptions in your statements that can't be proven or disproven. People are getting harrassed there that are definitely not of the mallrat contingent. Like I said, I've seen it, I've also heard stories from perfectly credible adults there. The point for me wasn't her story as much as it is that Witches Brew's customers are getting hassled because that's a convenient way to undercut their livelihood. I got sidetracked but I want to bring things back around to that. They are the ONLY business that has cops in front every weekend, bothering the customers when they're doing perfectly reasonable things. I don't want to see Witches Brew fall prey to predjudice because some people with some power don't like the owners' religion and policies.

I agree that MySpace and LiveJournal complaints don't solve problems. What they *can* do is draw attention to the problems, though. Kym posted the original post because that's how she keeps in contact with her customers. I talked about it because I care about the business and it bothers me to see them discriminated against because of their religious affiliation. I go there as often as I can so that I can support them. Some of my other NC friends might do the same now, because I posted about it. It isn't much but it doesn't take much to type this out, either.

Volunteering is awesome and I recommend it highly to everyone. I've gotten a lot out of it. Standing up for people like Kym and Witches Brew who are getting shat on by some of the law enforcement in their town, even if it's just pointing out the problem to other people, is also awesome and I recommend it to everyone.

I don't think I'm a knee-jerk type of person. If I hadn't seen this sort of thing happen there already, I wouldn't have mentioned it here at all. I'm not telling anyone to *do* anything. I just said that it made me angry. I don't envy Kym and her partner's position at all, but I admire that they're willing to stand up and try to make a place for themselves in their town, even if that draws ire.

[xiane.livejournal.com]

Sometimes being the bigger person can really help matters, especially when it is impossible for whatever reason to beat antagonists at their own game. Stooping to (or below) the level of an obvious bully rarely does.

I totally agree with this. [although sometimes a bully needs a punch in the face, this was NOT the time! Eeek!]

More than anything, tonight I am GRUMPY [see next post] and fussy. I really like debating with you, though, even when I'm grumpy. It is good to have you to bounce throughts against, because we agree on some things and see others very differently [yet can understand each others' points] - thank you!