Cell Out

Blue caller: I’m very disappointed in Casey Logan’s “Screwed by Sprint” (November 21). With businesses everywhere having difficulties due to economical and other reasons, it is a shame that a local company, which still employs many local employees, is the target of bad publicity from a local publication.

Shame on Casey Logan and shame on the Pitch. You should be supporting local business, not bashing them!

Todd Cotts

Overland Park

Sprinting toward Gomorrah: It was refreshing to see such a truthful story. I used to defend Sprint, as I worked there for five years. Now, after getting axed in March, I openly speak the truth about Sprint. The cover story could have been my story. I, too, have the ION memorabilia and the polo shirt I got when the combined price of FON and PCS stock reached $100!

Sure, the surroundings were nice, and the fitness center was fantastic, but the Overland Park campus was not all it was cracked up to be. It was a nightmare trying to get to work, you needed a map to find out where your next meeting was, and the televisions outside your cube were distracting. And moving up the management chain was damn near impossible. I, too, had to look on the intranet to see how many people were between myself and Bill Esrey. I lost count at five management levels, none of which knew what exactly I did.

Near the end of my term at PCS, I learned that all the work I had done was basically for nothing. I created a monthly financial report, which was so time-consuming that I could barely fit in anything else, only to find out that someone in another group was compiling the exact same report each month as well.

The few nice things that came from my time at Sprint were a free MBA, which helped land me a much better job about three weeks after getting laid off, a decent severance package and a wardrobe full of red PCS T-shirts, which make nice dust rags.

Jennifer Sullivan

Independence

Loose screw: The cover of your latest issue struck me — struck me like the way a crazy fan and his son strike a first-base coach. I thought that when someone got screwed, they got a screw through their abdomen, not a nail.

This must be a sign of the crazy times now, like a paper that sells more advertisements than it has stories or articles. (Granted, it’s free.) Or a corporation that has employee strife and probably will be the next Enron, WorldCom or Tyco — kinda sounds catchy, doesn’t it?

But all in all, I love the paper, and Abbie Hoffman once said, “Remember, the New York Times in its low form represents death Kulture.”

Name Withheld Upon Request

Screw you: The Sprint piece was worth the read, but someone forgot to ride herd on Brian Stauffer’s illustration … that’s a nail, not a screw. That, or the headline writer doesn’t know the difference between getting “screwed” and “getting nailed,” connotations notwithstanding.

All the same, the story was yet another good example of why KC readers need the Pitch.

Jim Price

Kansas City, Missouri

Editor’s note: Apparently some of our readers can’t tell the difference between a nail and a gigantic killer pin like the one that drops in Sprint’s TV ads. Hint: Sometimes our cover art isn’t literal — sometimes it even incorporates two separate but complementary ideas, such as a poor, pitiful, laid-off worker getting impaled and screwed.

The Sun King

Every Rose has its thorn: As a former Sun employee, I was disgusted at the drooling love letter you published about Steve Rose (Kendrick Blackwood’s “Mr. Johnson County,” November 14). The man took something his parents worked their whole lives to build and sold it to the highest bidder just a few years after his father’s death. That company, in turn, ran a once-beloved publishing company into the ground.

Your article makes it sound as though Mr. Rose is a saint and that Johnson County is in love with him. As a resident of said county, I can tell you nothing could be further than the truth. I am ashamed that the rest of the city views him a representative of Johnson County. The man is little more than a media whore who delights in seeing his own face in the paper.

He profited handily from the sale of Sun Publications, and yet Blackwood’s article expects us to feel sorry for him because he can now only publish his self-important ramblings once a week? Thanks, Pitch, for adding fuel to the fire of his already raging ego. Why were you too scared to go after Rose the way you’ve gone after other sacred cows in this town? Are you afraid he’s going to buy your publication and destroy it as well?

Lest you think this letter is sour grapes from a fired employee: I quit the Sun just after it was sold and the new owners were just beginning their bloodletting.

And feel free to use my name in this letter. Like many others who worked for His Lordship, Steve never knew my name when I was there. It’s doubtful he’ll remember it now.

Terry Scruton

Merriam

Sun rise, sunset: As someone who lived many years in metropolitan Kansas City, it was entertaining to read the story about Steve Rose. For years, I slammed down copy after copy of the Sun as Rose’s opinions clashed with my own. But what amazes me is that there seemed to be a need to write about Rose “losing his grip” on Johnson County.

Steve Rose is intelligent. If he were not, he would not have had been so successful in his ventures. However, he represents exactly what Johnson County needs less of: middle-aged men endorsing wasteful styles of growth and virtually no accountability for managing that growth well. Perhaps when Johnson County’s sprawl reaches Wichita, someone will come to realize things need to be rethought.

And thanks for the pic from Ruckus of Rich Nadler. I had forgotten how awful he behaved during the light-rail debacle in 2001. Nadler represents what is wrong with Kansas City, Missouri: aging males who are too afraid to regain the pieces of what once made Kansas City so special.

Both these men typify the roots of the status quo appearance of Kansas City’s metroplex today.

Ryan Caviglia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Class Clowns

Jug o’ love: I just wanted to give mad props to ya, Geoff Harkness, on the article “Down With the Clown” (October 31, 2002). I’m a juggalette, and I have to say it brightened all of KC.

Juggalos live to see something as fresh as this put out on the streets. Not too many people can pull that off, ya know — writing about something as intense as us, when they themselves have no true involvement. But he pulled it off extremely well, and I feel that on behalf of all Juggalos that when I say “mad props and much clown luv,” they all feel it.

We gave a copy of it to Shaggs (Joseph Utsler) at the in-store on November 16, and the smile that crept up on his face was unreal. The guys totally freaked on it, and it was the best thing to see and experience. Thank you for portraying the correct example of our family. We may get out of hand sometimes, but we never mean any harm by it; we’re just releasing energy and having the time of our lives while doing it.

Ashley Bachman

Olathe

Toxic Avenger

What a waste: On October 3, the Pitch published a thoughtful, insightful article regarding a small local company named Environmental Product and Services and its co-owner, John Dillon (Kendrick Blackwood’s “Toxic Crock”). It is obvious that Blackwood spent much time and effort researching what can only be described as a very complex situation.

The environmental services are not easily understood, and we believe Blackwood did a credible job of presenting the story of a young man who, in spite of everything that has happened, really tried to protect the environment and expected his partner and employees to do the same. Alas, this does not always happen the way one would hope, for whatever reason.

We raised John to be fair, honest and to always do the right thing. It may be small comfort to John and his friends and family; however, he did indeed do the right thing and still ended up being, according to his lawyer, “the last man standing.”

We thank you, Mr. Blackwood, for your efforts on his behalf.

James and Elizabeth Dillon

Prairie Village

Putch and Pull

Food, glorious food: I got very nostalgic when I read Charles Ferruzza’s review of P.F. Chang’s, because he mentioned the former Putch’s 210 (“House of Toys,” November 21). I was a regular customer of that venue from when I first discovered it shortly after moving to KC in 1963 until it closed several years later.

In my opinion, the food quality was better than any that exists in our city now, and there has never been that quality of service since. Everything was finished on carts, which were wheeled from the kitchen to tableside, and the flaming desserts (Crepes Suzette, Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee) were not only a great show in the preparation, but quite delectable. In fact, the only local restaurant I’ve ever heard more raves about through the years was the Green Parrot on Truman Road, which was long gone by the time I arrived.

Oh, for the good ol’ days.

Charles Ballew

Kansas City, Missouri

Hair and Now

Turn your head and coif: In the review Charles Ferruzza wrote for Yia Yia’s (“Rah Rahs,” November 14), he mentioned the “king of Mulletville” sitting at the bar. I think that might be my husband, Brian. We were there with friends recently, and we waited at the bar for over an hour to get our table.

He gets a lot of grief (mostly from me) for his haircut but loves it anyway. His birthday is next weekend, and for it, I’m having his baby picture altered to give him a mullet. He picked up extra copies of the Pitch to show all his friends. He thinks he’s a celebrity now, so could Ferruzza please tell me what night he was there? Hopefully, that will settle it. Is he really the king of Mulletville, or is there someone else sporting his ‘do north of the river?

Thanks for your help! Happy birthday, Brian!

Diane Yonker

Kansas City, Missouri

Charles Ferruzza responds: After scrupulously checking the dates of my visits to Yia Yia’s, I have determined that Brian Yonker is indeed the king of Mulletville.