OUT OF THE LOOP
RE: "Car2Go Yanking Service from East Portland and St. Johns" [Blogtown, July 31], regarding a change in the service area in Portland.
DEAR MERCURY—Neo-liberal capitalist corporations have no interest in providing the working-class poor a safe, affordable way home from work late at night, and judging by the number of 24-hour bus lines in PDX, neither does city hall.
Carlos Covarrubias
BBQ MIND ENEMA
RE: "BBQ Season" [Everything as Fuck, July 29], comedian Ian Karmel's summer grill-ready tutorial on meat.
DEAR IAN—I feel like my mind has had a much-welcomed enema. Grade A—no, make that USDA Prime—funny. I'm cutting it out and putting it on the refrigerator next to something by George Carlin.
Steve
THE WORST > THE BEST
RE: "Portland's Worst Person" [Feature, July 29], in which readers submitted essays explaining why they are the worst person in the city. The grand prize-winning essay involved firing a woman because she was pregnant.
Have you seriously rewarded people for being complete dicks in your worst person essay contest? Congratulations, you have become New Portland. I have no use for any of you.
J.Anderson
Solving a problem like Maria's may not be as difficult as it seems. My fiancé and I are both PDX attorneys, and when we read RetailHell666's "award-winning worst person" essay, the first thing we thought was: RetailHell666 isn't the worst person in Portland—his/her employer is (thanks, Citizens United)! If Maria ever learns what actually transpired and decides to seek legal representation, RetailHell666 could alleviate a fair bit of his/her guilt by testifying in Maria's favor in an employment discrimination case (RetailHell666 might also have a claim against his/her employer, depending on the timeline of events). There's no better way to reward Portland's worst (corporate) person than by serving then with a well-deserved employment discrimination lawsuit!
Jackie and CJ
RUNNING MAN
RE: "Tom Cruise Running" [Film, July 29], a different sort of film review for Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation.
DEAR MERCURY—Thank you for the fun article. I have always been a fan of Tom Cruise and I have always enjoyed seeing him run. His focus and determination always bring a smile to my face.
Frances Forsblad
I GUESS WE'LL be seeing you at the movies then, Frances! You win this week's Mercury letter of the week, with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where you usually see someone running on the screen, even if it isn't always Tom.
