ID for beer

I go to Grocery Outlet weekly. It's the only thing close to a grocery store we have in La Grande, so even if I have a bad experience I would be unlikely to go anywhere else. Still, I usually have an awesome experience and never any complaints.

I, and the person I shop with, have bought beer or wine there probably 50 or more times. We may have been asked for ID once or twice, but really it never happens. I am 40 years old so I never even expect it. Not that I mind getting a little hassle. It is pretty nice to get treated like a teenager every once in a while.

Last weekend, though, the other person I was with did not have her ID because I did not tell her we were going to the store.  This would, of course, be the one time we finally were asked to show ID.  The cashier then would not sell the beer I wanted.  So, I said that I would go out and come back in.  I took the beer to the back of the line and the cashier told me, "I can't sell to you. You have to go through another line."

Now, I don't care enough about laws, policies and such to know what they actually are, but there seems to be some hole in this.  If you think I am not old enough, or that I am buying something for someone who is not old enough, then I would expect you not to sell to me at all.  Certainly, you should not tell me the next lane over would do it.  Still, it was pretty convenient. I went to the next lane, wasn't asked for ID, who I was buying for, or anything, and went home with my beer.

I was happy as a customer, but it certainly doesn't seem like the way I would run my own business.
Otherwise, good work. We love G.O.

Letter to the Ozarks

            I would like to give College of the Ozarks fans my highest regard. Their showing for the women’s basketball tournament in Sioux City, Iowa was the most spirited and committed I have ever seen.  Watching the Bobcats in the first two rounds was some of the best entertainment at the tournament, outside of my own Mountaineers that I had come from Eastern Oregon to see.  The College of the Ozarks versus Briar Cliff was the most compelling matchup of the second round and, being from Missouri originally, I had decided to cheer the Bobcats to victory.  

            Bobcat spirit was noticeable everywhere in the arena.  Walking around the concourse looking for an open seat, Bobcat fans were dwarfed in terms of number and color in the arena packed with fans for Briar Cliff, a team local to Sioux City. But as far as voice and tenacity, Section 110 made a much larger impact. CofO brought not only an entire cheering section, but the cheer team and the mascot as well!  Not even Briar Cliff had such impact, and they didn’t have to pack it in for a 10 hour drive.  And all this considering CofO fans didn’t need to go anywhere as the men’s team was making a Cinderella run at the same time back on the homecourt (whose upset over Northwood in the first round I picked in my NAIA brackets, by the way).

            I went into Section 110 and asked to join the fun.  The chants kept coming, consistently and matter of factly.  Not only was the spirit electric, but during the last couple minutes when defeat seemed eminent, the Bobcat crowd still fought to the very last trying to will their team to victory.  The crowd did not stop until the buzzer sounded.  At that time, I told the girl next to me, “Sorry!  You may have lost the game, but you brought the best party.”  I didn’t know if it was particularly consoling, but I found it so the next day when Eastern Oregon lost in the quarterfinals.  We believed we had a better chance than anyone, and the way we lost was particularly heartbreaking, but we had a lot of fans in Iowa as well, so I really thought we put on the better party.

            Your Bobcat spirit was so enthralling, it really helped make the trip worth it.  Special enough that I considered going to Point Lookout for the men’s tournament next year.  Then again, something about overtaking the home crowd in Sioux City seems more important.  I hope to be back next year and, if so, I will return to the Bobcat section wearing marroon, where the fans and the party are as good as it gets.  Thanks for it all!

daniel “kid” yoshida

KEOL, La Grande

rachel corrie: rabble rouser hall of fame

rachel corrie (1979-2003)

born and raised in olympia, and then on to study at evergreen state college, rachel corrie became committed to worldwide peace. she travelled to rafah, a sister city of olympia in the gaza strip, as part of a senior project. there, she engaged in non-violent protests over israel’s demolition of palestinian homes. after 4 months in gaza, rachel was run over by a tank and killed while trying to prevent the demolition of a friend’s home.

rachel’s parents sued the israeli government for one dollar. last august, the israeli government finally rejected the suit, saying that it was an accidental death.  rachel was wearing a bright orange jacket and speaking through a megaphone. 

she didn’t just stand up in the way of bulldozers for life and liberty, she sacrificed her own reputation to do so. even in death, she was villianized as a palestinian sympathizer, and also mocked by anti-war activists. she wasn’t even particularly liked or trusted by most palenstinians. she’s been called “stupid” but kid yoshida thinks she died more honorably than anyone who ever dissed her. besides, most things that people die for can be considered stupid in hindsight. as some news agencies contort the truth and confuse the public, kid yoshida can play along and suppose it was an accident. was it then also an accident when the israeli forces went to rachel’s memorial service and sprayed the mourners with tear gas before chasing them away, ending the memorial? 

rachel’s case wasn’t terribly unique. women, children and other non-war participants are routinely killed in some of the most the senseless and preventable wars on earth. while each new martyr makes the last one forgotten, rachel can never be forgotten. March 16, 2013 marks the 10^th anniversary of her death.

a very extensive collection of rachel corrie information can be found at: http://www.rachelcorrie.org/ and at http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

is rachel a symbol of futility? consider these quotes:

"I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive. It's horrifying," Corrie tells a reporter. "It takes a while to get what's happening here. People here are trying to maintain their lives, trying to be happy. Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."

Corrie spent Friday and Saturday nights in the home of Ibrahim and Jindiya al-Shaer in Hai as-Salam. Bulldozers had systematically sheared off one home after another between theirs and the border, leaving the al-Shaer house standing exposed on the front line. The front door was now too dangerous to use, so the family entered and exited their house via a small aperture cut into the rear wall. Corrie had grown close to the family's 17-year-old daughter, Naela, who'd been grazed by shrapnel while sitting on her porch in early January. "We should be inspired by people like you who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong -- even in the most difficult circumstances," Corrie scribbled in Naela's diary. "Follow your dreams, believe in yourself and don't give up. Much love and respect, Rachel from Olympia, Washington." -- an excerpt from Mother Jones 2008 story on Rachel.

"The fact that Rachel Corrie "faded into obscurity" and her actions were futile says far less about her than it does about us. She may have been naive, she may have been duped…She also may have stayed alive by being passive and apathetic. But she didn't. She tried to improve our world. She tried to make a difference. That makes her courageous and admirable in my book. Using her own words, Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner wrote a lovely play about her life -- even an Israeli stage offered to produce it -- but here in the US it is difficult even to find the script anywhere and US theater companies that originally expressed interest in producing it have fled to the hills and have embarrassed themselves trying to dodge questions about why… Anyone who doesn't think there is vast power at work here to control how we Americans view the middle east conflict is far more naive than Rachel Corrie ever was. 

– by “Accotinka” 2007.09.19