Lake Ida
Posted July 23rd, 2003 @ 10:31pm by Erik J. Barzeski
I just took a bike ride over to Lake Ida (my scooter apparently has a dead battery - I'm going to try to start it up later tonight when it's cooler out and I can tolerate pushing down on the kick-start repeatedly). Man that lake is dirty!
A few jetskis, a few waterskiiers, and a whole lot of black people fishin' on the piers and docks. That's what's there. The wind was kicking up just a little, so that's something I'll have to take into account when I get kayaking out there. I didn't see any good launching spots - all pretty steep with grassy, rocky banks. Disappointing to say the least, but I'll do what I can.
I'm really at a point - again - in my life where I'm about to be very busy. I always try to be busy, but sometimes I lapse into a coma of sorts and nothing gets done. I'm working four jobs or so, trying to be more active outside of work (sports activities, new hobbies, etc.) and whatnot. I'd like to find time to squeeze in a gal pal, but then again I'm not sure I'm up for that. My last relationship has humbled me quite a bit, and for someone without much of an ego to begin with, let's just say I don't think too highly of myself as an attractive candidate for dating. It's all in my head, but that's where a good relationship blossoms. If the soil's rotten, ya ain't gettin' any beautiful blooms.
Just a little rambling…
Donate Life
Posted 24 Jul 2003 at 10:07am #
Just doing things in general is a pretty good way to meet people, gals included. So, knock yourself out, and have fun doing it.
Posted 24 Jul 2003 at 11:27am #
So would it be cleaner if they were white people? 😀
Posted 24 Jul 2003 at 12:28pm #
No, if it were white people there, I'm sure it would have a fence around it with no access in or out. 🙂
Posted 24 Jul 2003 at 2:21pm #
Hey EB....just up the road from you in ocean ridge. what kind of kayak are you getting? i'm in the mkt. BTW you're right, 20 yrs. is a long time...do the yrly thing with fishing license.
Lake Ida has always been a little nasty regardless of those fishing. 🙂
Posted 24 Jul 2003 at 6:59pm #
I have no idea where Ocean Ridge is, Tom. How far is "just up the road?" I'm getting a Tarpon 120 from Wilderness Systems. I have about a month left to go. Email me (or IM me) if you'd like, Tom. I'm going to be looking for some paddle buddies.
Posted 29 Aug 2003 at 7:40pm #
It's too bad about the trash but from where I stand you are the trashiest thing out there with your barbaric racist attitude. You are an embarrassment to the race of whites and you are also correct about the "dirty" soil, you get back what you are putting out.
Posted 29 Aug 2003 at 7:45pm #
Uhm, fisher, you're a fucking moron.
Posted 10 Sep 2003 at 8:50am #
Question: Have you ever been called a racist? For what? My Answer: Yes. Most recently, I was called a racist for mentioning the color of...
Posted 12 Sep 2003 at 9:26am #
Well, I would say really that it is a racist statement. If they were white, would you have said "a whole lot of white people fishin'"? Probably not. Labeling them like that is a form of racism, in my opinion.
Posted 12 Sep 2003 at 10:35am #
I would have said they're white. If they were tall, I'd have said they were tall. If they were women, I'd have said they were women. So, Charles, you too are wrong. Sorry.
Posted 14 Sep 2003 at 5:24am #
Colorblindness is no longer a requirement of non-racism, thank goodness. We are free to acknowledge and appreciate races. That's a good thing. All part of life's rich pageant.
BUT: I gotta say, that was VERY weird of you to mention the race of the people fishing. What does their race have to do with the price of tea in China? Very weird.
Are you a racist? Not sure I'd go that far, since I don't know you. But it most definitely was a gratuitous mention. Served no purpose and only made the reader wonder why their race made such an impression on you as to be worth mentioning hours later in your blog.
Definitely changed my opinion of the kind of person you are, and made me wonder what makes you tick.
Why exactly were you thinking about their race later in the day, anyway?
Posted 14 Sep 2003 at 5:28am #
By the way, your claim that you would have mentioned the race of the fishermen if they were white just plain rings false. You've never mentioned the race of people around in you in your fishing posts before, why would you start now?
People never mention whiteness unless relevant in a police report or something.
Posted 14 Sep 2003 at 8:00am #
I wasn't "thinking about their race" later in the day. I had in my mind a memory, and an accurate one at that. I described the picture in my mind. If one white person had been fishing, I most likely would have said "a bunch of people" because "black" would no longer apply. If it had been only white people, you bet your ass I'd have mentioned that too simply because it'd be unusual at Lake Ida! As it stands, though, adding the word "black" was both more descriptive and didn't sacrifice accuracy.
Scot, your last point about not mentioning the race of people with which I've fished is silly. I've never used the word "black" or "white" except to describe lures or the fish I've caught except this one time. Heck, searching for "black" on my entire blog yields very, very little. "White" yields about the same, and hey, look! Almost none of them have to do with the color of people's skin!
And "why would I start now?" This post is dated July 23. I didn't even a kayak and of course had not yet started fishing at this time, Scot. Your comment is thus somewhat nonsensical.
It's all very easy for you to sit back and make judgments about someone you've never met, and I'm glad you're all having fun, but ask the folks that actually know me, and they'll gladly set you straight.
Posted 14 Sep 2003 at 8:38pm #
I think most people are taking the comments made and trying to make something out of nothing. So he said "a whole lot of black people fishin'"-- sorry people, I don't see that as a racist remark. Had he said "a whole lot of (add racial slur of choice here) fishin'", then I'd raise an eyebrow or two. If Erik were African-American, no one would bat an eye had he said there were white people fishing. It's real nice to have a double standard when it comes to race relations, isn't there? Whites are ALWAYS racists aren't they? I think anyone who points out stupid crap like that and yells wolf is tyring to make themselves feel better by thinking "Hey, I pointed out a racist to somebody! That makes me a little less racist!" It's all rubbish.
As someone who isn't part of the racial majority, and has felt the ugly sting of racism personally I can tell you unequivocally that Erik's not a racist. I wouldn't call him a friend if he were.
Posted 14 Sep 2003 at 11:59pm #
1. erik never implied that the "dirty lake" had anything to do with the random observation that "black people" were fishing there.
2. so what if he said "white people", "black people", whatever. its not racist to make an observation. why do we have to be dumb, blind and PC in today's society? Erik didn't say, what kind of black people they were. He didn't say poor black people or rich black people, just "black". So, all of you readers that assumed that Erik was being derogatory, just have overactive imaginations.
3. and for the record, I'll tell you the downlow about this lake... its very relevant to the description of our town. In general, rich, mostly white, people live on the east side of the lake. The entire east side of the lake is bordered by a housing development that has homes for $250K and up. The west side is bordered by a park. Its a rather nice park, however one corner of it is home to a group of about 20 "black" young men hanging out all afternoon drinking and smoking. based on their dress, they are mostly unemployed. fine by me, whatever, to each his own. no one is breaking any laws. my point is that we live in a town divided. whites on one side of lake ida, blacks on the other. whites really like our town and they are moving in in droves, so blacks keep getting shoved further into their "corners of the park". ignoring this disparity is not how one "erases" racism. The only way to bring our town together is to not be blind to the differences and build bridges. I, for one, see the blacks fishing off the pier while the whites fish off their expensive boats and think... hmmm.. that sucks, what's gone wrong here in this town?
all of you who thought Erik was racist need to suck on a dose of reality.
Posted 15 Sep 2003 at 1:43pm #
There are billboards hanging around the Bay Area that read :
"That
Phillipinoguy sure is level-headed."The strikethrough is actually there on the billboard. The point (not that it needs explication) is that racism can be much more subtle than referring to races in a negative context. Even in the context of a compliment, referring to race where it's not relevant is a form of racism. It ensures that the speaker and the audience stay race focused even when there's no point. I read your descriptions above about about how/why the remark was supposedly relevant, and I'm just not seeing. So what if blacks live one side of the lake and whites on the other? Do you really think that a reference such as yours contributes to the betterment of that problem? By emphasizing skin color rather rather that PEOPLE the problem is made worse, one tiny inconsequential remark at a time.
Again, I'm NOT saying you're racist. I'm saying that this kind of embedded racism is more subtle than classic racism, but we have a responsibility to be aware of it and its effects.
Posted 02 Feb 2007 at 3:51pm #
[quote comment="4362"]Even in the context of a compliment, referring to race where it's not relevant is a form of racism.[/quote]
I've come back to this entry in early 2007 because it came up in conversation. The word "black" was relevant.
[quote comment="4362"]So what if blacks live one side of the lake and whites on the other?[/quote]
To be clear, Daria wrote about the "sides" of the lake - I did not. I was merely recalling a memory.
[quote comment="4362"]Do you really think that a reference such as yours contributes to the betterment of that problem?[/quote]
I think that a reference such as mine leads to a more accurate description of what I saw and remembered. Thinking back now, years later, I can recall the scene quite clearly.
[quote comment="4362"]By emphasizing skin color rather rather that PEOPLE the problem is made worse, one tiny inconsequential remark at a time.[/quote]
The only people who have chosen to emphasize anything are the people commenting. You're reading emphasis into a passage of text where no emphasis exists, literally or in markup (bold tags, etc.).
[quote comment="4362"]we have a responsibility to be aware of it and its effects.[/quote]
The effect of my including the word "black" - comments about it aside - was to more accurately describe the scene. Nothing more, nothing less.