Tape Tape Tape Tape Tape
As the Mercury puts it - Tapegate 2007. YAY! I love being the rabble rouser. This morning, I decided to take photos of just 1 block downtown and was surprised even myself that the entire length of the block is “reserved.” Some assclown even has four chairs locked to a sign post with a kryptonite lock and taped to the ground next to them was the following note:
Dear “E” Whoever you are …
I see you are really good at ripping up my tape and replacing it with yours. Too bad you couldn’t figure out how to get rid of my plastic chairs that have been here since Monday night. Oh….that’s right….you don’t have the key!
Good luck getting this chalk up…better bring a shop-vac.
Don’t you have any respect for tradition? Are you the type of person who takes “cuts in line”? [sic]
Well, I bought a case of this damn tape and am going to check on my spot every 4 hours.
Every attempt on your part to remove my tape will be futile, LINE CUTTER!!!
Have a nice day!
A) is this a challenge? Because I have the time to head out there, watch you and then come in after you are finished and rip up the tape.
B) Do you really want me to bring a bic pen and bust the lock? I can if you want.
This whole argument that it is tradition and a right has me baffled. I would love to get some of the tapers together and chat with them and ask them the following question: This coming fall, I plan on taping off my place in front of Walmart for the day after Thanksgiving sale 1 week in advance. Will you respect that?
Also, what about the tourists who have come to town who don’t know about this “traditions? What about the working parents who don’t have the time or luxury to come downtown and stake out a spot.
Signing off for now.
Oh, and yes, I ripped up the sign and it is on my cube wall.
This morning I talked to a lady who was chalking near the Convention Center. Someone else had already taped the area with their name, so she was just using her chalk to write “Reserved” and her name and told me that she was going to get there early, then say that she had claimed it first.
I’ll be joining the folks from the Mercury tonight to rip up tape and erase chalk.
What is a “tradition and a right” is the camping out overnight to claim a space. People used to do that in droves, but I guess that got too difficult for people so they switched to just taping up the street. That’s not acceptable. If you want to reserve a spot, then you should do the hard work required in order to physically maintain a human presence.
(But then again, isn’t that illegal now in Portland with the “no sitting or sleeping on teh sidewalk” ordinance?)
I say, go ahead and tape off your stupid spot. But don’t think that your argument of “I reserved it a week ago!” will hold water when you get there and I’m standing in the middle of your taped-off space. Tape doesn’t change the fact that it’s public property, and I intend to stand wherever the hell I want to.
Saturday morning should be interesting.
You seriously have to wonder about the mental health of some of these people. What I think will be interesting to see is if all the media attention is going to drive these people to actually come into town and physically “save” their spots from all of us damn tape-ripping-up riff raff. I think that’s the evil genius plan the Mercury had to begin with. Arglebargle or fufurah?!
What I love is the Kryptonite lock securing cheap plastic chairs. Screw the bic pen, just take a hack saw to the chairs and throw them where ugly litter belongs: in the nearest dumpster.
This taping nonsense is out of control. Who would have thought that watching a parade could become a fiercely competitive sport? Kinda takes the fun out of it, if you ask me.
If he/she is really checking it every 4 hours, it sorta defeats the purpose of staking out the territory in advance.
I almost envy people who get this amped about watching high school marching bands and octogenarians on horseback.
Are you the type of person who takes “cuts in line”?
Uh, you mean, like locking some chairs to a pole on a sidewalk you won’t be anywhere near for days. Sounds an awful lot like cutting in line to me.
Can’t wait to rip me up some tape!
Tradition? No, taping up a sidewalk like a douchebag is not a tradition. The parade is the only tradition here. Sidewalk reservations?? Uh, honey, this isn’t your hairdresser or your favorite campground. It’s a #^$%@&@ sidewalk. Get real.
Soccer moms, it’s time to rough it for once in your life… pitch a tent and get your spot early if you want it so fucking bad. Otherwise, act like the rest of humanity and just have faith you’ll find a spot somewhere.
Put your own lock on his chairs. :)
Better yet, just get a crack - er, creme brulee - torch and melt them.
This whole brew-ha-ha is absurd to me, yet strangely compelling. I also wonder how the whole “soccer mom” and suburb bashing got tied into this. I’ve worked downtown for about 30 years, and most of the folks who do this taping off and “reserving” bit don’t look real “soccer mom” like to me. So I do think some people are using this as a way to slam others without real facts. And I hope tonight at 8 doesn’t turn into a real rumble.
But hey, it’s fun to watch!
Warner, you have a point. Yes, some generalizations are being made (not by me) that all the problems related to taping have to do with suburbanites. I agree that all the taping is not being done by people from Gresham and Beaverton, but I bet a fair amount is. It isn’t that we hate them, we just hate what they do to our streets.
Does anyone know if that craiglist post on the KATU website is a joke? Selling off a piece of sidewalk space for $75? That’s disgusting. Go Tape Rippers, go!!
I just took a short walk around, now they are taping in the street in front of the tapings on the sidewalk. The buses are running over the tape, making a worse mess.
One person taped this message inside his area:
“Please respect”.
Respect what? Littering? I now think Randy Leonard needs to just enact a ban on the whole thing, with fines for littering included. It’s getting ridiculous. How is this different that graffiti?
Have you seen the craigslist Rants and Raves this week? Priceless. Those wacky craigslisters are really stepping it up.
It’s real, as in “really posted on craigslist.com”. I don’t know if the seller is serious, though:
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/tix/347902345.html