Category: Culture

Angela from Santa Cruz is not semantically homeless. The 19-year-old has supportive parents, so much so that they pay her cell phone bill so that they can reach her on the road. Because, although Angela has a house that she can live in, the road is where she chooses to be. Angela is not homeless; she is traveling.

This bit of semantics is the true distinction between the permanent “bums” on Newport Avenue (most vocally represented by Boston James, www.bostonjames.com, the “first homeless man on the internet”), and the groups of transient youth known as the Kids. “Traveling” is the label that binds them together. They are without a home by choice.

The local beach and bay press paper, The Peninsula Beacon, has taken on the issue of the homeless youth crowding the sidewalks of Ocean Beach in a recent article by Kevin McKay. This is very commendable. Yet the article was written without the benefit of talking to any of the homeless youth.

Business leaders are quoted in the article, and they have important things to say, but there are no quotes from anyone who can be described as a member of this targeted group. To their credit, the OB Rag is mentioned and our web address cited.

* DA Bonnie Dumanis Threatens Third Judge With Boycott

* Permanent Homeless Shelter On Hold

* San Diego’s Teenager Curfew Law Ruled Illegal

by Robert Allen

Mr Schillinger: We Are All OB Locals ! We all pay taxes and pay rents and support OB. We all have personal problems. To use this forum to air yours is a bad way to do business. You criticize my business ethics with no truth and only opinions without the facts.

You can claim the deep pocket business men are shutting down the little guy!

by Ryan Schillinger

Our hot dog cart is the “original” OB hot dog cart, the one that was at Winston’s for years and years. The cart was originally owned by OB Bob.

We got kicked out of that spot due to technicalities of private vs. public property, and have spent 9 months at a new location in the Rock Paper Scissors parking lot. We have built up a large group of customers, and have made that spot known for late night hot dogs and munchies.

by Anna Daniels

Chief Lansdowne, I received a message very early yesterday morning from Boyd Long, Assistant Chief of Patrol Operations, and was not able to return his call until later that evening. I want to acknowledge his quick response to my prior email about disparate police responses in different communities. Chief Long was professional and courteous and we had a long, interesting conversation on the topics within my email.

Originally posted Feb. 8, 2010. Sarah Little has since moved to the state of Washington.

Editor: Sarah Little sent the following originally as a comment to the post that asks if OB should have a town hall meeting. She believes we should, but how she said that, we thought, should be highlighted as a post in and of itself.

by Sarah Little

As a relatively new Obecan I’ve been reticent to chime in on this discussion but here goes…

A couple of years ago my world turned upside down and I landed at the foot of Niagara Avenue in my shiny new truck with my flush-with-cash checkbook, a cheap brown metal cane and a really bad need to throw a never-ending pity party for myself. I came, I saw, I laughed, I stayed. I stayed because of the surfers and the “hippies” and the wandering kids and the nice homeless man in the wheel chair who always smiles at me, even when I’m in a decidedly not in an “OB sort of mood”.

I stayed because it’s a community where Ross can ride around on the fire truck. I stayed because my neighbors embraced me with their warmth and friendship. I stayed because my friends cheered when I quit a job that was killing my soul. I stayed because of the unfinished jetty and all it stands for.

Editor: This is a response by Seth Connolly to Danny Morales’ “Ragster Rant: the OB Planning Board In Crisis”. Seth currently sits on the Board representing District 4.

by Seth Connolly

Danny Morales, I noticed that you were able to portray the Board as a bunch of 420-unfriendly, anti-environmentalist, corrupt, anti-local business yet somehow still rubber-stamping folks who frequent Starbucks. Well done. Kinda wish I had thought of that first, as it is no doubt a strong platform in OB.

Anyhow, I do in fact serve on the Board as a rep for District 4, and I do not speak on their behalf or in that capacity here.

Editors Note: And now for some real nostalgia. The following article appeared in the Sept-Oct 1953 issue of San Diego Magazine. Thanks go to Larry OB for retyping it and sending it to the OB Rag. Larry kept in the original typos.

by Lois Schustra

Hundreds of cars go roaring down West Point Loma Boulevard everyday, blissfully unaware that behind a certain high hedge, there nestles a little spot of historical interest, a vestige of the “Ocean Beach” of yesterday. To the tenants that live there, it is a bit of Shangra La.

Dear Chief Lansdowne:

I awoke this morning(Saturday Feb. 6th) and began doing what I do every morning- reading the news and drinking my coffee. A signonsandiego article regarding the police investigation of a murder-suicide in City Heights caught my eye I could not help reading it as a disturbing counterpoint to a OB Rag blog posting about the police crackdown on homeless youth in Ocean Beach.

I have lived in City Heights for over 20 years and I also contribute to the OB Rag. What I read this morning was essentially articles about not only different kinds of crime but articles about what seems to be two different cities in terms of police involvement.

Due to some complaints by OB residents, channeled by 10NEWS, San Diego Police have begun to crack down on wayward youth, rampaging across our community.

Here, four officers, two on bikes, are seen handing out citations to a half-dozen young people on the seawall.

Is this the response the community wants?

by John Williams

Burkas: Just like Ford’s Model T, you can get a burka in any color you like as long as you like black. Men’s attire ranges from white, through grays, to black, plus shades of brown. None of this traditional attire is patterned; all solid colors.

Lefthandedness: Though statistics would say a certain percentage of people will be lefthanded, I haven’t met a single one here. And, if you extend your left hand to a Saudi or touch them with your’s, they will either draw back or, at the very least, wince.

Saudis don’t complain about their culture or society: In six weeks, I have not spoken to a Saudi female.