-- By Tom Phillips
In the official scorecard and program for the Seattle Mariners this month, two items caught a traveler's eye. One was an interview with a Mariners pitcher who says that he carries scripture in his back pocket -- Colossians 3:23 -- "with whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord and not for men." He said with every pitch he throws, he tries to "honor the lord."
Just a few pages away was a color ad for a club one block from Safeco Field -- a "gentlemen's club" called SoDo. It showed a tattooed young woman in spike heels and a thong, thrusting her butt toward the reader, who is invited to "come party with our all-star ladies before, during or after the game!"
Neither item was remarkable in itself. What struck the visitor was that neither would ever appear in the official program of the Yankees, or the Mets. Both Heaven and Sodom have been whitewashed out of civic discourse in New York. Cravings for the Lord are kept private, out of concern that someone might be offended. And sex ads are relegated to louche publications like the Village Voice and the Verizon Yellow Pages. Here, they co-exist along with instructions on how to keep score, and a refreshingly frank team analysis headlined "Lack of Depth Could Sink Mariners."
So far, this article is the best example of critical thinking the visitor has encountered in Seattle. But where there's freedom, there's hope.
-- Copyright 2016 by Tom Phillips
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| Visitor keeping score |
Just a few pages away was a color ad for a club one block from Safeco Field -- a "gentlemen's club" called SoDo. It showed a tattooed young woman in spike heels and a thong, thrusting her butt toward the reader, who is invited to "come party with our all-star ladies before, during or after the game!"
Neither item was remarkable in itself. What struck the visitor was that neither would ever appear in the official program of the Yankees, or the Mets. Both Heaven and Sodom have been whitewashed out of civic discourse in New York. Cravings for the Lord are kept private, out of concern that someone might be offended. And sex ads are relegated to louche publications like the Village Voice and the Verizon Yellow Pages. Here, they co-exist along with instructions on how to keep score, and a refreshingly frank team analysis headlined "Lack of Depth Could Sink Mariners."
So far, this article is the best example of critical thinking the visitor has encountered in Seattle. But where there's freedom, there's hope.
-- Copyright 2016 by Tom Phillips
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