Tweet!
Thanks for the story on “Who’s Who in Memphis Twitter” (August 15th issue). It was fun to see so many people I follow and also to learn about so many others that I will now definitely check out. I think you left out a few who were deserving (Pete Pranica, Dan Wolken, Frank Murtaugh) but all in all, a great story. Well done! (I think I used more than 140 characters.)
Kat Wohlers
Memphis
Kardashians
It’s funny how Flyer writers love to make fun of the Kardashians but are at the same time unable to stop mentioning them. Tim Sampson and Bruce VanWyngarden might want to rethink their contempt for the Kardashian girls, since neither one seems to be able to ignore them for more than a week, as they suggest we should.
Kim Johnson
Forrest City, Arkansas
MPD Morale
Bianca Phillips’ story on the leaked survey of Memphis police officers was very illuminating. I’m not surprised Chief Toney Armstrong didn’t want to talk about it. Bad equipment, no room for advancement, and being forced to meet a ticket quota is a recipe for bad police work. It also explains the last ticket I got, which was total bovine puckey. Even the officer seemed embarrassed to be giving me a citation.
Lauren Charles
Memphis
More Memphis Love
I read Bruce VanWyngarden’s note (August 8th issue), and I feel bad that so many people around here feel negatively about this beautiful, historic city. I’m originally from Lorain, Ohio, but a job brought me here. I have been living here for a year and a few months, and I love Memphis. As was stated, every city struggles with some of the same problems: urban education, low employment, and crime. But those issues don’t make a city horrible. Organizations dedicated to more positive outcomes and more jobs can lower crime rates and help better educate our children. And so can thinking positive about Memphis!
Rachel Rogers
Memphis
Last Thursday afternoon, I tripped over a concrete barrier and fell hard in the parking lot of Chick-fil-A on Union Avenue. The incident, while not front-page news, was transformed from a painful moment into something extraordinary by the compassionate actions of two gentlemen who dropped whatever they were doing to help me.
Their generosity of spirit overwhelmed me to the point that I’m still moved, one week later. Yes, there are still folks out there who are willing to instinctively extend themselves to help someone in need (a stranger) with no reciprocity. I have to thank them not just for coming to my rescue and demonstrating intrinsic grace but for ultimately restoring my view of what it means to care for each other. Grace. I thought grace, as an intuitive characteristic in people, had muted over time. I was wrong.
I didn’t thank these wonderful gentlemen properly in the moment. Disorientation, embarrassment, and, well, processing the fact that I had just face-planted the parking lot gave me pause. I thanked them in my head and heart, but I appreciate the Flyer for allowing me to publicly thank these wonderful gentlemen for their immediate and instinctive compassion and for the awakening. They disappeared quickly before I could convey my gratitude. I hope they will read this. I will never, ever forget them or this.
G. Delise Walker
Memphis
I moved here from North Carolina two years ago. I am from a small town in the mountains. When the economic bubble burst, it took most of the jobs there and most of the homes. I prayed which direction to go for work, and of all the places in the world, my two children and I ended up in Memphis. We are Native Americans — eastern band of Cherokees. The only thing I can say about Memphis is that I love her. She has given me work and a lot of new friends and experiences I could have never had. Tell those who love to hate to put down their car windows and breathe in the city and her people. They are one of a kind.
Sandra Palmer Alexander
Memphis
