slice of life at The Slabs December 17, 2004, 10:44:10 am Yahoo Message Number: 47964Here's a link to a sobering NY Times article about some of the residents at The Slabs: http://tinyurl.com/6w4rpNow where'd I put that bottle of antidepressants?--oryoki
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #1 – December 17, 2004, 12:28:04 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47973"Here's a link to a sobering NY Times article about some of the residents at The Slabs:" I've never been to the Slabs, and maybe everything that reporter Charlie LeDuff wrote is true--maybe the people there are as pathetic as he makes them out to be. But I can't help thinking that the whole article has an overpowering odor of sanctimonious condescension. It reminds me of the way Victorian writers who had been to Borneo or the Congo would talk about "the wretchedness of the natives." Phrases like "men stood around a fire, casting silhouettes with a vaguely sinister feel"..."the stumblebums and the alkies"..."bald and paunchy and toothless"..."looked and smelled like a bum"..."sitting shirtless, with one rheumy eye, a watermelon physique and a cotton fields vocabulary"..."old men emerged from their trailers hitching their belts over their navels, wiping their lips with their forearms, coming on with dopey smiles" are not just colorful descriptions; they were chosen deliberately to create and reinforce the sense that these people are pathetic losers. In short, this article is slanted--heavily slanted. If a reporter for the New York Times were to write in this condescending tone about rural Blacks or urban Hispanics, he'd reap a firestorm of protests. But because RVers are apparently seen as safe to pick on, the Times thought it was OK to print this kind of prejudicial writing. Again, I haven't been to the Slabs, and I certainly don't believe in blaming the bearer of bad tidings. But my every instinct as a writer tells me that Charlie LeDuff has juiced up his prose in the best tradition of the penny tabloids, just so that middle-class readers in stick houses can shudder with virtuous horror, glad that THEY are not as wretchedly degraded as these trailer dwellers. Try this on for size, Charlie: "Reporters stood around a computer display, casting silhouettes with a vaguely sinister feel, while bald, paunchy editors with dopey smiles emerged from their offices hitching their belts over their navels." Feels a little different when the pejoratives are aimed in your direction, doesn't it? ;-)Andy Baird
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #2 – December 17, 2004, 01:28:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47978Sic 'em Andy! I like your writing style better anyway. Not sure a visit to the Slabs is on my agenda any time soon, but I'll "trade in my picket fence for a .... life on the drift" any day.Lorna, an "aged hobo," drifting and lovin' it.
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #3 – December 17, 2004, 01:32:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47980Quote when the pejoratives are aimed in your direction, doesn't it? ;-) Amen, AndyPrejudice, prejudice, prejudice...If there was to be one only directive in life, it should be "Thou shall not have prejudices". Prejudice is the mother and father of almost everything wrong in this world...Eudoro
Re: slice of life at The Slabs - writer's point of view Reply #4 – December 17, 2004, 01:32:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47981QuoteIn short, this article is slanted--heavily slanted. Andy, I have to agree with you. Have you ever been interviewed by a writer who had his story planned in his mind already? Did you feel that the writer did not really care what you told him? He was only going to listen to facts that supported his pre-conceived point of view.That's what I've felt when I read this story, that the writer had his story in mind before he even started or visited the place.I have never been to the slabs. What I have read previously about the slabs has not created a desire in me to go there, though some articles were upbeat. Maybe even the TV show "RV today" had a segment about it. Almost always an article will include pictures of that hill painted with religious messages.When I was a youngster in WI, we had a travel TV show called "Merl Duesing Safari" that always started with words to the effect: "The code of the traveler is to see things not as he imagines them to be or wishes them to be, but as they really are."Well, after reading a lot of travel logs and travel articles, that goal seems almost impossible to me. The way we see things depends a lot on what we carry to that place inside our heads. A young person who likes to run rivers in a raft or kayak, does not see a river in the same way that an older person that is a fisherman does. A person that is interested in history and genealogy, does not see a town in the same light as a person interested in live music and nightlife.I hope that you enjoy all your RV travels in ways that take advantage of your various interests.Ken of Ken, Patty and daughter Stephanie in San Diego (not too far from the slabs, but never been there)
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #5 – December 17, 2004, 01:41:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47982Prejudice is the mother and father of almost everything wrong in this world...I've always thought it was selfishness. If you think about all human vices and frailties, they all seem to come back to selfishness. Murder, theft, rudeness, mate/spouse cheating, stubborness....you name it, I figure being selfish explains just about everything bad in life. "I want what you have...". But, not wanting to start a thread, to each his own.John & Cheryl 1989 22' RL Big Red
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #6 – December 17, 2004, 05:43:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47993Which LD get together was this? (running & ducking....)
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #7 – December 17, 2004, 05:46:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47994Andy, Why don't you send your post/critique to the NY Times Letters to the Editor.MonicaQuote"Here's a link to a sobering NY Times article about some of the residents at The Slabs:"
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #8 – December 17, 2004, 06:31:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47996Before you put yourself
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #9 – December 17, 2004, 07:07:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47999"Portraits of seediness are his trademark, he's not necessarily picking on the Slab." Thanks for the eye-opener, Joanne. After all these years I ought to know better than to expect the Times to behave like anything but a tabloid with pretensions. But I guess I slipped for a minute there and bought into the old myth of the NY Times as a pillar of journalistic respectability. ;-)Andy Baird
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #10 – December 17, 2004, 08:00:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48001I wonder what it is about the holiday season that seems to draw out these cynical, Dickensonian wannabees? Could it be that bad news sells papers?NH Paul
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #11 – December 17, 2004, 08:49:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48005Wow. I think that was the most chauvinistic article I've ever read. But, there is a silver lining. The roads are getting crowded out there and anything the Times can print putting a negative light on RVing may discourage some from choosing the lifestyle that we love so much.Karen - just out there to enjoy the journey
Re: [Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #12 – December 18, 2004, 08:10:11 am Yahoo Message Number: 48009. . . I can't help thinking that the whole article has an overpowering odor of sanctimonious condescension . . .Andy - you know how you sometimes read something that someone has written, and said to yourself, well, I'll be danged! That's exactly how I felt about it, but didn't have a clue how to describe it. That was just my reaction when I read what you wrote.I have been to the slabs - once several years ago for a bit under a week with a bunch of friends, and got my solar panels installed (earlier post about this). We had a great time. What kind of people were there? Ex-everything. Police - -military - fire - engineers - a nuclear physicist - several teachers, all grades and college, health care professionals, some poor people who were living cleanly and within their means. Is it fancy or even vaguely pretty? My gosh, no. AND, everyone on this list should NOT go there. Lots of you wouldn't like it. That's ok. Is there even a grain of 'truth' to the story? Sure there is. But it sure read like someone with not much of anything else to write about, and it was clear that the writer felt far removed, thank heavens, from such drively people. Another year I went down with another bunch - we geocached - soaked in the natural hot springs (one at a time) yakked our brains out - danced - sat around campfires in the evening - drove to Algadones, MX etc. and had a really great time. Would it be appealing to everyone - far from it. You can do all those things where there's grass and all hook-ups. So what's so special about it. Nothing much - just another piece of property here on earth to see, and for some of us, to enjoy.YMMV - Sarah[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: slice of life at The Slabs Reply #13 – December 18, 2004, 10:26:33 am Yahoo Message Number: 48010Joanne,Good investigative reporting. Thanks for the info.Barry 2001 RB TX
slice of life at The Slabs Reply #14 – December 17, 2004, 01:00:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47975I've never been to the Slabs, and maybe everything that reporter Charlie LeDuff wrote is true...Well said Andy.John & Cheryl 1989 22' RL Big Red
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