A fellow who had listened patiently as I droned on about the newspaper to a local civic club recently wanted to know how I felt about the Sentinel’s “Ticked Off!” feature.
He made it pretty clear that he was no big fan, and we heard this past week from some others who share his view.
For those who have yet to discover “Ticked Off!”, it appears on the Diversions page in the Life & Times section Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Born of a desire to provide more access to the newspaper for readers, it consists of anonymous complaints about people and things readers have found annoying.
The feature regularly includes drive-by postings about road rage, perceived commercial slights and pet treatment.
Somewhat ameliorating the negative nature of “Ticked Off!” is “The Flip Side,” a much shorter companion collection of anonymous compliments and expressions of gratitude. Apparently fewer people who have nice things to say feel the need to hide their identities.
The item drawing fire most recently appeared Sept. 1 and involved “all the old people shopping on the weekend.”
The author, who apparently resents having to share the planet with people who move at different speeds, went on: “You are retired and have all week to go shopping. Yet you wait until the weekend, taking five minutes to write out a stupid check with your shaky hands. . . . It’s bad enough we have to support you, then add in your driving along at 6 mph. Stay home!”
Juanita Keim of Orlando responded, “This is rude and, I think, unacceptable. . . . It isn’t fun to be made fun of, no matter who you are.”
James Wickert of Orlando had a similar reaction. “I would never imagine that this vicious, ignorant babble would be allowed in respectable media. . . . Incidentally, I am not elderly or anywhere near retirement age, and still I find this vulgar.”
Keim does not fit Wickert’s demographic. “Just sign me the grandma who once in a while, for numerous reasons, has to shop on the weekend,” she wrote. “And I’m probably the grandma that wrote the check with shaking hands. And, Mr. Editor, that HURTS.”
But what distinguishes Keim and Wickert — other than civility — from the object of their wrath was the willingness to be identified.
If you hope to have your letter published among Reader Views on the editorial page, you must supply your name, city of residence and day and evening telephone numbers — everything but shoe size. That’s so Letters Editor Dixie Tate can verify that you actually wrote it and identify you in print.
But for people who lack the courage Keim and Wickert displayed, there is “Ticked Off!”, the print equivalent of talk radio.
Having those two features in the same publication strikes me as a little like keeping a security guard at our front door and leaving our back door wide open.
If you haven’t already guessed, my response to the questioner at the civic club, made to vocal agreement, was, ” ‘Ticked Off!’ ticks me off.”
