Tampa Getting Ruder, Bigger

After growing up in cities where survival of the fittest outweighs common courtesies, I realized when I moved to Tampa that people didn't honk.
You could be at a red light for what seemed like hours and the people behind you would wait -- afraid to honk you into reality.
You also could have been cruising at 75 mph on the highway and realize suddently you need to exit. The lane change wouldn't risk your life because people would let you through (though turn signal use is unheard of here) -- a courtesy you would not find driving in Miami, Los Angeles or New York. People there will purposely speed up to PREVENT you from changing lanes.
Some of this is Tampa's small-town innocence, that laid-back Southern courtesy and patience that doesn't want to rock the boat as a sign of acting proper and polite.
This city is growing fast though and, with that growth, we lose some of these consideration.
Two nights ago, I drive up to a gated condo complex in New Tampa and pull up to the security box -- the other gate was closed. As I reach for my gate card to enter the complex, some jerk pulls in front of me to enter the gate! Once I closed my jaw and collected my thoughts about the sheer gall of this guy, I started to wonder: Was he in such a rush that he couldn't wait an extra 30 seconds to go through? Was he intent on robbing or stalking someone and just needed to get in? Who knew? Who cared, right? All I know I had to wait for him to enter, for the gate to close and ONLY THEN could I enter again.
Lucky me, when I enteed, this creep and I both pulled into the mailbox area for a moment and I had the confrontation I needed: "Do you realize how incredibly rude you are?" I asked him, as he turned around thinking I was going to pounce him.
Now I am not stupid enough to engage myself in anything violent but his response: "Oh I have a clicker and I was trying to help you get in?" What!?!?
Is he serious? I don't think I'm going to even bother explaining here what his lame excuse was, just point out that people who are incredibly rude and juvenile always make themselves worse by rationalizing their stupidity. Why not just admit you were wrong and move on? I am not going to arrest him, I am not going to care 5 minutes later. Don't feed me a line of bullshit that he cut in front of me to help me? It just makes no sense and only makes the people who do the right thing more aggravated.
Then yesterday, I am driving home on a small side street and some woman is walking literally in the middle of the road. Usually, when pedestrians walk in the middle of the road, they hear the approaching car and move to the side to let it pass. She did not and just kept walking so I slowed down and lightly tapped my horn. Oh, she snapped that head of hers to attention and moved out of the way, mouthing to me, "Asshole!"
Well, again, I had my moment to roll my window and ask her, "Are you really upset I honked you?" Yes she was, she said, I should have told her to move, not honk her. Huh? I am driving in the car and she wants me to get out of the car and ask her? Is a light honk so rude? I know people in Tampa NEVER honk, but sometimes it is useful and more than necessary for safety purposes.
And while I am a big proponent of pedestrian rights and right-of-way, walking in the MIDDLE of the street when there is plenty room on both sides isn't the smartest thing to do.
The key point of any of this is never to let this shit bother you too much. Yes, I totally confronted them in the moment but was told by my independent observer that I was pretty calm and stuck to the facts of social etiquette. I'd like to think common sense prevails in this city as it continues to grow and that people who do stupid things (drive like maniacs during a sloppy thunder/lightning storm or leave the community shopping cart in the elevator so someone else has to put it away) don't try to justify their misdeeds and only make the situation worse.

Pei Wei's: P.F. Chang's casual sibling opening Carrollwood and South Tampa locations

I have never had a bad meal, or even a bad dish, at P.F. Chang's, the upscale Asian restaurant at Westshore Mall. The food has always been delicious and the hearty portions are great for sharing with others in your party. I am not a huge fan of chain restaurants, of which there are plenty in Tampa. But no matter what city I've eaten, no matter what others in my party have ordered, P.F. Chang's has been consistently delicious and satisfying.
So it was with high expectations that I first dined at Chang's little stepbrother, a cheaper, more casual version, Pei Wei's Asian Diner, which opened less than a month ago at the Mission Bell Shopping Plaza (Fletcher and Dale Mabry Hwy.) in Carrollwood and will open a second location in South Tampa (S. Dale Mabry, north of Azeele) within two weeks.
Sleekly designed with modern Asian decor (a Hello Kitty ceramic sits atop the spices shelf), Pei Wei's menu is displayed on a huge signboard as you wait inline at the the cash register to order.
You pick which protein (chicken, shrimp, beef, shrimp, etc) to add to a variety of Asian-influenced dishes, namely noodle/rice bowls or some of the "signature" dishes you'd find on the menu at Chang's (yes, lettuce wraps too!). Though the portions are not as large, the meals I had were just as tasty and more economical. Food is delivered to your table after you pay, order and get your drink.
My favorites were the Japanese udon noodles that I ordered with chicken and shrimp -- difficult to find in any Japanese restaurant in Tampa. During other visits, I also enjoyed the teriyaki bowl, fried rice bowl and a honey seared chicken dish. All were full of flavorful spices and sauces and the vegetables were fresh and tasty.
I expect Pei Wei's to hit it big in Tampa (same menu for lunch and dinner), and I think the P.F. Chang's influence and popularity will make a difference after the failed Mama Fu's experiment closed down two years ago in South Tampa. This area needs more casual Asian dining, I am just not a big fan of your New York-style Chinese takeout places full of MSG and salt. I think Pei Wei's will fill this area's need of healthier, more casual dining, it is worth a try.

Miss New Jersey girl just wanted to have fun!

It was perhaps the most ridiculous story I've ever seen on "The Today Show." The winner of the nearly insignificant Miss New Jersey beauty pageant, Amy Polumbo, found her victory in jeopardy because of pictuers she had privately posted to her Facebook profile.

As this once-respectable NBC News morning show descended into a new level of tabloid hell, Palumbo appeared mortified, deciding to reveal "in a TODAY show exclusive" the photos that created this maelstrom of controversy for people who obviously have nothing better to do than judge a 22-year old girl who took some pictures of her party moments.
Most of us, I am sure, have had these "party moments" in one form or another. Polumbo had pictures of -- gasp -- her boyfriend consensually grabbing her breast, or her drunkenly raising her legs in a suggestive manner fully clothed. What is so shocking and disconcerting about any of this?
It's not the nature of those photos, I think only the repressed, judgmental and perhaps even sexist would dare suggest that the photos she took were disturbing. These are photo moments we all have tucked away somewhere, or perhaps, in what may be a bad move, posted them on the Internet.
What is most disturbing is that these photos were taken long before she decided to compete for the Miss New Jersey Beauty Pageant (a beauty pageant for New Jersey has a irony all its own), long before she ever intended to be a public figure. But who is so blind and naive to society to think that a 22-year old doesn't drink alcohol or flirts with her boyfriend? Who cares if they took pictures? Why is this even on TV?
As TODAY breathlessly began its segment this morning and slapped that EXCLUSIVE banner all over its shameful broadcast, Matt Lauer asked Polumbo how she felt about her drunken photos being revealed on a national-television slideshow: "I feel sick to my stomach, I really do," she said, almost in tears. "They were meant to be private."
But she said it was a pre-emptive strike to keep her beauty queen crown, an effort to save her Miss New Jersey title. As the photos streamed across the screen, one could only wince at the stupidity of it all. I couldn't help but feel squeamish looking at moments she never intended for me to see, almost apologizing to Matt Lauer for being drunk or letting a friend of hers playfully touch her boob.
Midway through this ridiculous photo montage, Matt Lauer uttered perhaps the most sane statement of the whole segment: "Part of me is looking at these photos, saying, thank goodness they didn't have Facebook when I was in college because I'm not sure what would be out there right now of me."
He should have gone on to state that it really isn't so bad to have fun, and that it is time for us to stop turning every harmless moment of private fun into something public.

At Tampa Theatre: No Regrets for Edith Piaf Movie

The recent demise of Sunrise Theaters in Hyde Park was a huge loss for lovers of foreign and independent films, with the venerable Tampa Theatre the lone remaining full-time Tampa outlet for both film genres.
While Channelside and AMC Veterans 24 have tried to pick up some slack, they rarely feature foreign films and their independent film selection is unpredictable and inconsistent. Foreign films generally play big in cultural hotbeds like New York, Los Angeles and Miami, but any foreign/independent film that even makes it to Tampa doesn't play long and usually doesn't perform as well.
So I jumped at the chance last night when Tampa Theatre featured "La Vie en Rose" (playing through July 19th), a searing, biographical drama based on the early 20th-century French singer Edith Piaf.
The movie chronicles her life from her early childhood in the brothels and streets of France to her major concerts and love affairs in Paris and in New York. Years ago, I discovered Piaf's melodic yet hauntic music through downloading on Napster and Limewire, but never really knew what the French lyrics meant (I like downloading strange foreign music just for the experience, obviously not for the lyrics). Besides the incredible acting by actress Marion Cotillard (she consumed this role), this film brought to life the events and unfortunate illnesses and events behind her lyrics, which were also brought to life in powerful concert and recording scenes via subtitles (the movie is in French).
Of some the recent musical biographies that I've seen (Ray Charles and Johnny Cash come to mind), this movie was the most imaginative, bending the reality of the movie from Piaf's viewpoint, or in many cases, lunacy. I hope Cotillard wins an Oscar nomination for her performance, she was incredible.
The tragedies hit Piaf all through her life and you see how she learned to use the ascent of her musical career to escape the harsh realities of her life. One of the movie's best scenes is when she learns her lover has died in a plane crash and she literally lives a room in mourning to walk on stage to an adoring crowd.
I love movies with a great story to tell, and this is even better because of the power of Piaf's music. One of Piaf's most famous songs, "Non, je ne regrette rien" (No Regrets) was sung in a concert last-wish concert as she was already dying. The music and the poignancy of the moment in front of a sold-out crowd brings this movie to a powerful and poignant crescendo.

Treat the Customer Better, It'll Help

So often, and especially when you go to a retail store, it's not what is said that matters as much as HOW it is said. So on Friday, I bought a light switch panel for my condo that happened to be the wrong color. I went back to exchange my $2.27 purchase only to find I had lost the receipt.
Big deal, you say? Oh yes--it appears not much is simple at the return desk at the New Tampa Home Depot, where there was one lonely clerk left to help a line of 5 or 6 customers.
So much is right with customer service these days and so much else is wrong, that it always amuses me when I read items like today's Wall Street Journal where lower earnings forecasts at Home Depot are blamed on the weakened housing market.
Not even the strongest housing market could have improved my experience at Home Depot Friday, where the clerk asked me for my driver's license. Without consent or prompting, he input the driver's license number into the computer. When I told him I didn't want that information recorded for privacy reasons, he snottily told me it was their return policy and he wouldn't be able to exchange my items if I refused.
As I incredulously discussed further, he said the manager of the store could speak to me but that he would say the same thing. Wow, at some point, these huge fat companies will realize how to treat their customers and then realize external issues like a weak housing market and or weak economy do hurt, but not as much as rude customer service.

Less Taxes, No New Baseball Stadium

Like many kids, I grew up loving sports. I still remember the Miami Dolphins losing a heartbreaking Super Bowl XVII game to the Washington Redskins and then Dan Marino taking over the following year to become the hero my friends and I adored watching. So with enough new stadiums in the South Florida area, I cringed at Sunday's story in the Tampa Tribune. Front page news? Hardly.
What were the editors smoking? The Tampa Bay area does NOT need another publicly funded stadium, which was I'm sure the angle the Devil Rays would pursue.
They are a horrible baseball team with horrible staff (on Cinco de Mayo, the employees took all the sombrero giveaways so only a few of the paying customers could wear) in a horrible stadium. It is time for the public to stop funding these boondogle stadium construction projects to help feed the coffers of rich owners of sports teams and the players who play for them.
I do not know enough about the sales tax increase in Hillsborough County that supported the construction of Raymond James Stadium, but I do know the craziness that ensued in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area when both the Miami Heat (pro basketball) and the Florida Panthers (hockey) wanted a new place to play.
The Miami Arena was a perfectly fine place for both to play but whoever built that facility in 1988 forgot to include luxury skyboxes. So...not only did Broward County build a huge arena for the Panthers, but Miami-Dade County built a similarly huge American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami--prime property that could have gone to so many other better projects. One arena was enough, and, in an era where so many complain about huge property taxes, our tax dollars would be better spent in areas other than a new baseball stadium.

Lazy Sunday at the Jan Platt Library

Since I was a kid, I've been a fan of the library. Yes, I'm in that dying breed that still reads a newspaper as much as I can and, when on vacation or time allows, reads a good novel.
But going to the library for me has never been just about reading a book, it's one of those unsung gathering places for any community -- some people still go there for research, some to find books and some just to loiter (seen and be seen).
It sounds cheesy but it is so relaxing and soothing for me to spend a few hours at the Jan Kaminis Platt Library on S. Manhattan Ave., to pick a good newspaper or book and watch people walking in and out. You see all kinds of people, an eclectic mix that rivals Bay Street at International Plaza (not in looks but in variety).
Thiso modern library opened aroud 2000 and has become especially popular recently with kids and older people alike using its free Internet access. People sit around a bank of computers, staring and typing at computer screens which is an odd sight though we all probably look that possessed when we use the Internet at home.
To really relax, you need to go to the reading area off to the side as well with free copies of the major local and national newspapers (USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.) and major weekly magazines. There's a great kids section to drop the kids off while you browse and there's a video/DVD selection that focuses on the more obscure, artistic titles you won't find at Blockbuster.
My visits there, as in other cities I've lived, can be quiet and chance to escape into some meditative world of education, a chance to read and take in articles on topics I would not normally be able to focus on in our normally hectic lives.
I would say my only pet peeve is the inherent laziness and unhelpfulness of the staff. I have been to libraries where people at least pretended to like their jobs of helping others and answering questions. Some of the staff at this library are downright condescending and, if you EVER have to question a fine for a late return, ha, good luck! Otherwise, the benefits of this public library as any other can leave you refreshed and educated, which is all you can ask for on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Bayshore Cookout

My friends and I still had an enormous amount of food (and beer) left over from the 4th of July so what better idea than a cookout last night at the pool? We started gathering around 6 and the night was perfect -- breezy, not too hot and perfect water temperature.
The pool is in a high-rise off Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa, only separated by a short brick wall, so you can watch people jog by, see the lights from downtown in the background and hear the busy traffic. Bayshore Blvd. is really one of the reasons anyone who loves Tampa loves Tampa (does that phrase make sense?).
The bay sets up this gorgeous walk/drive with downtown just off in the distance for a view I've only seen in a few other cities. It really was a night to appreciate all of this, especially jumping into the serenity of the pool and hearing the motorcycles and cars zoom by in both directions. We grilled burgers, sausages and hot dogs, listening to my Ipod blasting on the stereo. We then moved up to my friend's apartment for some more beers and hooka smoking -- a water pipe typically found at a Middle Eastern restaurant.
Things ended at Ceviche, a Spanish restaurant on S. Howard Ave., for a nightcap. It wasn't my choice, but I was with good company. I've never found the staff there to be particularly warm or friendly -- my only dining experience was awful (food and service), I remember the hostess even gave my friend a hard time about which table to sit at. Last night, the security guard admonished two of my friends for smoking and drinking near the doorway. I am not a smoker, but I do believe in common courtesy and being nice at places like restaurants and retail stores. I also don't know how many smoking-friendly bars are left in this town, but I would try to find them if I did smoke rather than banish myself to the parking lot -- kinda seems to take away the point of going to a bar if you have to go so far.

Time to Stay Classy, Tampa

Desperate times call for desperate measures...the idea of doing a blog has been just an idea for awhile but after reading a few friends who started this, why not?
Years ago, I wrote more often for a living so, the other day, I figured let me start this before I get out of practice. Most of the world has a blog.
Yes I borrow the title of this blog from my Ron Burgundy, who used to tell San Diego how important it was to "stay classy" ("Thanks for stopping by!"). Some alternate blog titles considered were: 1) The Milkman Never Sleeps; 2) The Customer is the Boss; 3) It's 5 o'clock somewhere.
I've lived in Tampa longer than I ever expected, having grown up in the more "urban" settings of New York and Miami. When I first moved here, I fully expected to live here no longer than 1 or 2 years--it's one of those cities that people from Miami used to give you me a puzzled look and ask, "Why would you want to move there?" It's not that anyone in Miami knew or cared much about anything about Tampa, it's just one of those cities that was on the map and was about as ordinary to Miamians as Jacksonville, Kansas City and old furniture.
But as I look back at all the years I've spent here, I realized how this city snuck up on me, how I'd go other places and wish I was back in this perfectly sized, easy-to-manage place to live.
A lot has changed recently, as Tampa has grown in promience and visibility. (Starbucks' slogan on its Tampa coffee mugs: "America's next greatest city.")
This is why I still know not to roll my window down when approached at an intersection for money; why I know that turn signals are a dying courtesy; and why I laugh when people complain about "traffic" in Tampa.
I have never gotten over how spoiled people are about driving dsitances in this city when it still seems to me everything in close. To go, for example, Bay to Bay north to Fletcher on Dale Mabry Highway takes no more than 20-25 minutes in most normal hours of the day, yet most of my friends would almost never want to drive that far for anything short of gunpoint. And to cross Tampa Bay on one of our 3 fabulous bridges?
In Miami and New York, you almost always expect to spend 30-45 minutes in your car to do anything simple: movies, supermarket, work commute. It's probably gotten worse recently while I became spoiled myself living in Tampa. Here, no commute or drive should take longer than 15 minutes and, if it does, I catch myself getting annoyed.
I have always said living in Tampa is like living in a big city with a small-town mentality. It has gotten more "big-city" in recent years in some ways, but it's still a classy place to live and, in the infamous wisdom of Ron Burgundy, this blog hopes it stays that way!