Downtown cruising? You've got to be kidding.
Our new mayor seems to have schizophrenic ideas about what kind of a city he wants to help present to the world. On one hand, we read in some of the kinder articles about the mayor that he is working hard to make this a city of which we can all be proud and show the world what a neat place Salt Lake is.Then, on the other hand, he wants to allow downtown cruising, a throwback to times when small towns had only one paved road and no stoplights. Cruising, despite the mayor's misguided definition, really means much, much more than just driving downtown. It really means making as much noise as possible, revving up the engines, peeling rubber, turning the music to deafening levels, shouting at other cars and other "friends" on the sidewalk, using alcohol and other "things" and littering the streets all you want. Any other definition, whether the mayor's or not, is not realistic.
And what other city of this size or reputation even concerns itself with such a practice? After years of crisscrossing this entire nation and visiting other parts of the world as well, I cannot think of any other city we have visited that would even think of such goings-on.
If we are preparing to "show off" to the world at the time of the Winter Olympics, can you imagine what an image we would really portray if cruising is again allowed?
We hear that the mayor is a "workaholic" in his efforts on the city's behalf, but it really brings to mind that old saying: "When in confusion and in doubt, run, run in circles, scream and shout."
There is a cure for schizophrenia. In this case, it may be spelled impeachment.
Claude R. Thomas
Salt Lake City