Moody Amphitheater
Hats and Books Don't Mix?
RECEIVED Wed., June 13, 2012
Dear Austin Chronicle,
With the heat index rising, now is as good a time as any to remind everyone about the hat-wearing policy of the Austin Public Library system. In short, hats and books mix together like oil and water – specifically in the context of the oil gushing from the bottom of a BP deepwater well into the water that is the Gulf of Mexico.
Must we be reminded that we live in a time of eroding values? Where our urban landscape is a scourged battlefield of sex, drugs, and violence? The innocent and impressionable amongst us (i.e. the children) must be protected from this reality – especially those children who have decided to spend a modicum of their summer break inside a public library.
How dare a 41-year-old ne'er-do-well (such as myself) subliminally challenge an innocent and righteous upbringing by emulating some dirty "gangsta" lifestyle? Wearing a ball cap representing a big city team is, indeed, an act of "flashing colors." Social scientists have deemed this behavior as not only potentially offensive, but also as an aggressively overt action displaying rampant and tribal senses of gang allegiance. Little separates the battles of Bloods and Crips, from, say, the conflicting loyalties of Rangers and Yankees, Cowboys and Redskins, Shiite and Sunni.
As the caucasian sexagenarian librarian commented to me, "Leave that hat in your car." Or, if you rode a bike or took the bus to the library, be sure to place your hat in your backpack or European shoulder bag before being asked kindly to go back home and start your journey all over again. Sure, it may feel like it's 100 degrees out there with a sun suitable for the Sahara desert, but these are our children, and the children are our future. We must teach them well, and help them lead the way. We cannot afford to gamble their wherewithal by avoiding all meaningless, blanketed, and neo-draconian attempts at doing so.
Thank you for being aware and doing your part.
With the heat index rising, now is as good a time as any to remind everyone about the hat-wearing policy of the Austin Public Library system. In short, hats and books mix together like oil and water – specifically in the context of the oil gushing from the bottom of a BP deepwater well into the water that is the Gulf of Mexico.
Must we be reminded that we live in a time of eroding values? Where our urban landscape is a scourged battlefield of sex, drugs, and violence? The innocent and impressionable amongst us (i.e. the children) must be protected from this reality – especially those children who have decided to spend a modicum of their summer break inside a public library.
How dare a 41-year-old ne'er-do-well (such as myself) subliminally challenge an innocent and righteous upbringing by emulating some dirty "gangsta" lifestyle? Wearing a ball cap representing a big city team is, indeed, an act of "flashing colors." Social scientists have deemed this behavior as not only potentially offensive, but also as an aggressively overt action displaying rampant and tribal senses of gang allegiance. Little separates the battles of Bloods and Crips, from, say, the conflicting loyalties of Rangers and Yankees, Cowboys and Redskins, Shiite and Sunni.
As the caucasian sexagenarian librarian commented to me, "Leave that hat in your car." Or, if you rode a bike or took the bus to the library, be sure to place your hat in your backpack or European shoulder bag before being asked kindly to go back home and start your journey all over again. Sure, it may feel like it's 100 degrees out there with a sun suitable for the Sahara desert, but these are our children, and the children are our future. We must teach them well, and help them lead the way. We cannot afford to gamble their wherewithal by avoiding all meaningless, blanketed, and neo-draconian attempts at doing so.
Thank you for being aware and doing your part.
Asher Garber