DISCRIMINATION AT SEA
DEAR EDITOR: Thank you for your piece on the culture/class rift between Bainbridge and Bremerton ["The Great Divide," Jan. 2].The vast majority of Bremerton ferry riders are responsible, hardworking people who find themselves living with the crime that the B.I. residents want to avoid. The conversation aboard the Bremerton ferries seldom contains a longing for a bridge to B.I. Rather, complaints largely center on the obvious disparity in service. To think that a state agency in a supposed "blue" state can get away with obvious discrimination is rather remarkable.
Robert Zimmerman
Bremerton
THEY JUST LOOK DIFFERENT
DEAR EDITOR: When we were first married, my husband and I lived in Poulsbo and used the Bainbridge ferry frequently. One night we pulled into the terminal in Seattle late at night and got into the Bainbridge line. As we sat there waiting to load and observing people getting in and out of their vehicles, I laughingly said, "Hey, you know, these folks don't look like Islanders—do they? Don't they look like they are from Bremerton?" My husband thought I was joking. We loaded and dozed in our car. Until I realized we'd been on that ferry over 35 minutes. And, yes, it turned out we were on our way to Bremerton on the Bremerton ferry. Islanders have a different look. They just do. The women's handbags are different, the men's shirts and jackets.
I lived by myself in the '90s in Winslow, within walking distance of the Bainbridge ferry. I had no fear whatsoever of walking at midnight back to my apartment from the ferry terminal. I would never walk by myself after 9 p.m. in Bremerton.
I found Islanders somewhat snobby, yes, but I didn't care. Perhaps because I'm a little snobby. I liked people from the rest of Kitsap County, but I felt most at home with Islanders.
Jeanne Lee
Bellevue
A SELECTION FROM THE WEB COMMENTS . . .
I find this article ["Dategirl's 'Don'ts,'" Dec. 26] very insensitive to those who have psoriasis. To say, "I would gravitate toward the one guy everyone else was trying to avoid: the unemployed know-it-all with the chronic case of psoriasis," reinforces the tremendous mental anguish someone with psoriasis must face every day. I am disappointed and outraged that the Seattle Weekly would allow such a statement to be published. Making fun of someone with an incurable illness should have gone the way of the horse and buggy. To still see it in this day and age just makes me sad for our society.—Marian
After 16 years of putting up with people like you, I am sick and tired. I have psoriasis. I'm 20 years old. How can anyone get away with being so rude? If you had substituted any other minority group, you'd be the unemployed loser. Chronic case of psoriasis is a bit redundant, don't you think? Psoriasis is a genetic disease, therefore...chronic. Maybe you should actually do research before you start writing.—Cassie
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