With the news breaking that SandBlast will be taking a hike from Asbury Park and skipping down to Atlantic City this summer, many people seem to have some mixed reactions.
I’m not actually sure how the residents and tourists in AC will greet this, but I hope the organizers of SandBlast are prepared for it. I’m not saying that it won’t be a good thing; I’m just saying that for us in Asbury Park, we got a lot out of having it here. Businesses profited. Residents, although at times bothered that they had to walk miles to get to their own homes since parking was very limited, enjoyed the festivities.
It was a good source of income for Asbury Park. That’s just a fact.
But I have to say, instead of focusing on what SandBlast brought to the community, it might be a good time to reevaluate what we, ourselves, have been doing to each other – all in the name of “good, healthy” competition.
Now I already know that this blog post will not be the most popular, but some things need to be said. Some of us really need to take a good, long look in the mirror and make sure that we have been the best that we can be. In the name of competition, it has been my opinion that some people have been stepping on others’ toes and making rash decisions when individuals haven’t been acting in ways that suited their needs.
For instance, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery … but that’s not always the case. If someone, be it a person or company, has a profitable idea under their belt, I believe (in my opinion) that the idea should not be replicated by anyone else. When a person tries to “replicate” someone else’s profitable ideas to drum up business in the community, that is not imitation – and it’s not flattering. It’s, in a word, snatching.
Not only that, but it’s obvious. I can never understand why one bar/restaurant would ever do the exact same thing another bar/restaurant is doing, on the exact same night, in an effort to steal their business. Some people, I’m sure, are saying that I’m just a naïve fool who doesn’t understand the ways of the world. And you may be correct in your assessment. But everyone is entitled to their opinions, and this is mine. Sorry about it … but not sorry about it.
Just come up with your own ideas, and be successful on that level. It’ll make you feel so much better. Well, one would hope, right?
It also saddens my heart when people in the community are penalized for trying to make a living. We all keep saying that we in the LGBTQ community want to work together, live in harmony and have equality in every way, shape and form. Well let’s start with ourselves as members of the LGBTQ community.
We need to start setting examples, because if we don’t, we have no right to complain about others. I understand that competition is tight in the LGBTQ bars and restaurants. But it just boggles this gay man’s mind when a performer, bartender, server, security guard, disc jockey, entertainer, etc., etc. loses their way of making a living – and some are making a living in the industry and nowhere else – because they need (not want but NEED)to work in two or three different venues in the community.
Now I’m not pointing fingers or even intimating that I understand why or what the reasons are. But in my humble opinion, if we are to show the straight community that we can rise above the ways they handle themselves, we need to demonstrate by example. Let’s share the talents that make our community stand out and have others take notice.
Okay, I say all this to say what, you ask? The point of my mindset is this: If a person, organization or business can be admonished and punished for doing the same type of things at two different venues, then how in the hell can people make any justifications in their ways of thinking that it is somehow okay to try to do the same events that another person, organization or business is doing?
Can someone explain this to me? $2 dollars to the person who can explain this concept to me … $5 to the person who can look me in the eye, with a straight face, and make sense when you do it!
So if it’s good business to imitate ideas, then why don’t we as a community get together and “imitate” SandBlast – under a different name – but on the same weekend? Let’s practice what we preach, because if you can justify why we do that to each other, then I’m sure we can pull off a more spectacular imitation of this event.
And as the Pink Prom is fast approaching, I’d just like to say that if anyone tries to snatch that idea/concept from me, good luck New Jerseyans because that is patented to me and Bernadine will SHUT---IT---DOWN! This admittedly naive person learned his lesson after seeing some of the things that go on. You’re welcome!
